Vanessa German: Be good to your wild places my loves

i was the dirty one. the least cute thing between my three ravishing straight-toothed sisters. and i was round and brown and the nappiest. cuz. i wasn’t born with the need-to-be-cute gene. mostly i wanted to be turnin flips in the front yard. karate kickin the wind. jumpin bmx bikes over the lean-to ramp and singing my heart out. something whitney houston or bette middler on an old album and a vinyl of the WIZ with diana ross who i just knew was magic. and how i remember teachers lookin at me like i was a sorry case. like i wd not have an easy life. to be so gritty and unconcerned with new hair-do lip gloss cuteness. i remember not being picked for special things because i wasn’t as ummm put together as other kids. i look back at it and feel like i was a wild wild girl. and i laugh so hard because i was! so wild! t’hee hee! i was a hilarious child. and strange soft-hearted and deeply passionate and intense. my mama’s friend linda perlich told me you’ll be a good artist. you are so intense. here’s to alla the strange babies! you are so special wonderful and world-making! as james broughton said Follow Your Own Weird. be good to your wild places my loves — they are true soul laughing.

Vanessa German, Power Figure to keep me Alive