Katie/Kate

 

Katie/Kate

 

I value realness, rawness, truthfulness

and tend not to trust

those who I feel are inauthentic.

 

Recently, I started tagging my art,

poetry, photography, and writing

under a moniker/penname/pseudo-name.

 

(In 2008 I looked up

“Katie Dixon” on Facebook,

 and found nearly 600 more mes.)

 

Veiling myself under a new name

has given me strength in the past,

almost like a superhero’s cloak.

But putting everything under

this other name

has almost made me feel like I’m

hiding

under

it.

 

Can I authentic,

can I be real,

if I’m not Katie Dixon?

Or will Kate Solo bring

out the artist

that I desperately hope to be?