Page 101 of The Black Flamingo

---

or Marge Simpson high but a perfect

round afro. Mzz B is already an icon to me.

Mzz B catches me staring at them

several times as everyone is introducing

their drag persona, one by one around

the circle, with names and pronouns.

I’m not confused; I’m just an overly

curious person. So when they say

the name and pronoun for their drag

characters, I want to ask:Who are you

when you aren’t in drag?

I think of the famous Shakespeare line:

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

I’ve changed my name once already,

when I was seven.

Now nineteen,

I’m being asked to create

a new identity

for a different purpose:

a stage name.

Just like Onika Tanya Maraj

became

Nicki Minaj

and Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

became

Lady Gaga.

But Madonna, Beyoncé, and RuPaul

didn’t need new names: they simply dropped

their surnames, left them backstage

in the wings with their family and friends.

---