Rale Sidebottom
I left my hometown at eighteen, never to return
I was told my people were out in the world, waiting for me
I found them in a laundromat in Copenhagen, Denmark
I wore socks without shoes and boots without socks
I went barefoot and high heeled
i had cops bust my head
I had nuns heal my wounds
I was a percussionist in a band that never played songs, or practiced,
we had thirty-seven gigs in six months
I lived in a school bus that traveled the country for a year
and called my mother religiously from pay phones every week
as a puppeteer, I learned that some schools don’t let children laugh
and I learned that saying ‘fuck that’ can have positive outcomes
I built sets, raised and lowered curtains on scenes too diverse to recall.
I went to college, took part in programs and fellowships
I wrote two horrible novels and one pretty good one
I have many stories to tell
