Back in January of this year, FaceBook challenged its users to submit "25 Random Things" about ourselves to 25 of our friends. It was a wildly popular assignment; the sweetest chain letter there ever was. I had the best time reading these casual poems, peeking deeper into the minds and memories of all the admired writers, artists, acquaintances and past audience members in my network. Inspired and touched, I finally decided to compose my own random, self-revelatory list. I took it offline during the "FaceBook wants to own you" scare but, in the spirit of Spring and fun, I offer it to you below. Feel free to share your own in the comment box!
25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME /
SELF-PORTRAIT IN SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
1. French was my first language. I spoke it in Haiti. Replaced it with English when I moved to the United States at age 2.
2. I am age 2 in my very first memory: in a red and white dress, fresh off a plane from Haiti, striding all alone in JFK airport to meet my nervous mother. In this memory, I am not just Haitian anymore and not quite American yet.
3. A hyphen is born.
4. I enjoy myself in a skirt. I enjoy my lover in a skirt.
5. I came out in Ithaca NY: sitting by a waterfall chanting OM with budding courage and quiet certainty.
6. I never saw Passing Strange!
7. Bless Eve Ensler cuz I love me some V-Day.
8. I want to give and receive more hand-written love letters this year.
9. I wanted to be an emcee when I was 13. Wrote a rap about the AIDS epidemic and performed it in our middle school talent show. Didn't win but some classmates still remember the lyrics.
10. Yes to dancing barefoot on wooden floors.
11. After a raw foods picnic one steaming summer afternoon in Ithaca, I danced with a gang of good-witch women friends. We sang up a rainstorm with our pounding feet. I will never forget it. Laughing loud and sopping wet.
12. I believe in magic.
13. I believe my mother when she insists she saw sugarcane stalks walking. Haiti is enchanted like that.
14. Falling in love was magic. At first sight. Before words. Blew my mind. Opened my heart. Made me a better poet.
15. I've hugged Jane Fonda. Tightly! Twice!
16. I collect ribbons.
17. I remember the preacher's son in rural Tennessee. How his rough hands danced gang signs to mesmerize and calm us during a thunderstorm. He was soft-spoken and easy to smile. White dude. Recovering O.G. Crip. Those old sad eyes.
18. I went shopping with singer-songwriter Erin McKeown. The suit she's wearing on the cover of the Lafayette album? Mmmhmm.
19. I enjoy working in cities. I live in the country.
20. I love to travel for art. Love to hold and share characters. Love to live and recite poems. When the audience says "Krak!" I am newborn. Love performing my solo show in a packed theatre for a diverse crowd. I miss playing Claudie in Expatriate. Gonna do that again real soon.
21. Let's burst into cartwheels the next time we're together, OK? I don't care where we are. You. Me. Cartwheels.
22. Yes to The Cosby Show.
23. My dream house is a tree house.
24. I was a good modern dancer.
25. Filmophilia. No shame.
25 RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME /
SELF-PORTRAIT IN SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
1. French was my first language. I spoke it in Haiti. Replaced it with English when I moved to the United States at age 2.
2. I am age 2 in my very first memory: in a red and white dress, fresh off a plane from Haiti, striding all alone in JFK airport to meet my nervous mother. In this memory, I am not just Haitian anymore and not quite American yet.
3. A hyphen is born.
4. I enjoy myself in a skirt. I enjoy my lover in a skirt.
5. I came out in Ithaca NY: sitting by a waterfall chanting OM with budding courage and quiet certainty.
6. I never saw Passing Strange!
7. Bless Eve Ensler cuz I love me some V-Day.
8. I want to give and receive more hand-written love letters this year.
9. I wanted to be an emcee when I was 13. Wrote a rap about the AIDS epidemic and performed it in our middle school talent show. Didn't win but some classmates still remember the lyrics.
10. Yes to dancing barefoot on wooden floors.
11. After a raw foods picnic one steaming summer afternoon in Ithaca, I danced with a gang of good-witch women friends. We sang up a rainstorm with our pounding feet. I will never forget it. Laughing loud and sopping wet.
12. I believe in magic.
13. I believe my mother when she insists she saw sugarcane stalks walking. Haiti is enchanted like that.
14. Falling in love was magic. At first sight. Before words. Blew my mind. Opened my heart. Made me a better poet.
15. I've hugged Jane Fonda. Tightly! Twice!
16. I collect ribbons.
17. I remember the preacher's son in rural Tennessee. How his rough hands danced gang signs to mesmerize and calm us during a thunderstorm. He was soft-spoken and easy to smile. White dude. Recovering O.G. Crip. Those old sad eyes.
18. I went shopping with singer-songwriter Erin McKeown. The suit she's wearing on the cover of the Lafayette album? Mmmhmm.
19. I enjoy working in cities. I live in the country.
20. I love to travel for art. Love to hold and share characters. Love to live and recite poems. When the audience says "Krak!" I am newborn. Love performing my solo show in a packed theatre for a diverse crowd. I miss playing Claudie in Expatriate. Gonna do that again real soon.
21. Let's burst into cartwheels the next time we're together, OK? I don't care where we are. You. Me. Cartwheels.
22. Yes to The Cosby Show.
23. My dream house is a tree house.
24. I was a good modern dancer.
25. Filmophilia. No shame.
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