Location: Tampa, Florida, USA
Originally from: St. Augustine, Trinidad
Education: St. Joseph Girls', Woodbrook Secondary, Sixth Form Government, Barry University, University of South Florida
Right now: Full time student, sometime blogger and occasional creative writer
Contact: soybeansandsunshine@yahoo.com
Title of Work(s): "slight pepper", "Lament for Mama D'leau"

More from Soyini...
I am concerned with a whole heap of issues, but I am really excited about constructs of identity across the board: sexual, gender, racial, cultural etc. A lot of my writing sits firmly in that space, exploring themes related to West Indian cultural identity, especially as it relates to being immersed within another dominant culture and/or migration. I love thinking and writing about the ways in which we may or may not attempt to negotiate an identity about this idyllic place left behind--like Cubans in exile looking longingly towards Havana--I try to address the parallels and connections between the West Indian experience and other cultural experiences as well. I like the idea that we are all intertwined somehow and it makes me think about the ways in which these shared experiences help us formulate a sense of who we are.

I am working on a piece in progress that does just that. "The Taste of Hibiscus" has contemporary characters weaving around questions of identity and authenticity in South Florida. What does it mean to be a "real" Trinbagonian? Why is this important and so central to our community? Questions that ironically, only become relevant when you leave a place and take up residence elsewhere. 

I am also really passionate about women's issues as well and I have presented a paper at Barry University, exploring the ways in which female soca performers use the stage as a space to express sexual autonomy and empowerment. I saw the ways in which one could read explicit "wining" as an act of resistance to long held ideas that decent women did not behave like that. Similarly, I saw these women actually refuting a historical time in Trinidad when the calypso and soca stage was a primarily male dominated space and it was socially unacceptable to have women involved. Now we have women at the helm of many of the biggest soca bands! _________________________________________________________________

slight pepper

slight pepper
one of those classic trinidadian oxymorons
slight pepper
it's like saying cut me please
but not too deep
just so it hurts just enough
a trickle of blood will do
take care
don't sever any major arteries
just a drop or two
to burn
and singe
one's tastebuds.
slight pepper
is like that indelible sting of love
that feels so damn good
even though it hurts at the same time.
slight pepper
a term that is also the earmark of a trini
who has been away too long they say
and is now estranged from country and culture
culinarily speaking that is.
like yuh cyah handle de heat or wha?
Not true I say
I scream
well I have never liked pepper anyway.
somewhere in my mind's eye
a scotch bonnet simmers slowly
gliding
adrift in a pot.
I watch it swell
and steam
and sweat
atop the immense heat
don't you burst now
don't you burst.

trini to the bone?

Click here to read "trini to the bone?" an excerpt from The Taste of Hibiscus by Soyini Forde.
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