Poetry Slam

There was one time when I went to this cafe on 12th street and avenue A to watch my friend, Henry, perform. It was poetry slam night and people from some NYU writing club went on stage to read their thoughts. This made me appreciate how cool my friends from college can be. Brave enough to stand there and creative enough to write stuff like that. I wish I went to more nights like that. Didn't we all dream of being beatnicks when we were in NYC? Well, I did... I used to write poetry a lot, but my stuff was stupid and my rhyming was all filler. Think I'm better at prose. So here goes; a self portrait I wrote a few days ago as I try to find confidence in times of sadness:

In Common
by Graffiti Nguyen

Someone described Amelia Earhart as: "The girl in brown who walks alone". We have a lot in common. She is my deceased hero.

Jessie Wilcox Smith died as an old maid, but painted nothing but portraits of mothers, children, and mothers with their children -- domestic life. We have a lot in common. She is my favorite American Illustrator.

Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraimsdaughter Longstocking, also known as, Pippi Longstocking is funny, assertive, adventurous, and has braids. We had a lot in common. She was my favorite fictional character.

Punky Brewster knows how to put on color, survive, and be a bubbly wit. We had a lot in common. She was my favorite child star.

Published under Ellis Bell, Emily Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights, a dark and dismal love story. We have a lot in common. She is my favorite Bronte sister.

A once native Houstonian, and a pessimist, Janeane Garofalo has been quoted saying: "I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth." We have a lot in common. People compare me to her. She is my comedic foremother.