Not Black

I am not black
I am neither gloomy nor calamitous
I am not the absence of light
I wish neither to condemn nor distort nor bring evil
And so
I am not black
By what other phrase may you address me?
By what label shall I be identified?
I am espresso brown
I am burnished copper
I am new earth
I am autumn leaves
I am chocolate mousse
I am the desert dunes where the sun's shadow falls
I am a study of gradients and tones and textures
To be revealed, and revered and embraced
I am a rich cinnamon praline
Pecan laced
So dearest Webster
I refuse to be measured by
Your narrow misinformed definition
Of what I appear to be before your eyes
Attempt to comprehend, recognize, understand
I
Am in fact
Not black