Post pictures of three fictional characters to describe yourself.
— Facebook meme
I’m asked in this meme to post
three pictures to describe me,
pictures lifted from fiction.
My face is itself
already
historical fiction:
average white
superimposed upon
brown churning within.
I already look like my Mom
at first glance with traces
of my Dad underlying that.
Together they create this face
I get to call my Own.
A more-or-less real face,
one mild pile
of presumed melting pot,
one well-assimilated mask.
One face
two made from scratch
a long time ago.
Now I am being asked
to find three more fictions
to reveal myself, to name this
half-and-half
all-American mistake of history.
So many to choose from —
Lone Ranger, Tonto. Don Corleone,
Apache Chief. Mario from Donkey Kong,
Injun Joe from Tom Sawyer.
What do I choose for that third picture?
That’s the choice that keeps me up
at night, keeps me sickly awake.
Calm down, you say? It’s just for fun?
It doesn’t mean anything,
just a little something to pass the time?
Friend, when your face
is historical fiction
and it feels like
there are only
twenty pages left,
you’ll try anything.
It’s only natural
to try and find
a more perfect mask
when the two
you’re used to
keep slipping.
It might make
for a dramatic turn
in the story.
I’ve been dying
to see
how it ends.
