David Trinidads
Before the Internet, there was only one David Trinidad. Me. Now there are seemingly thousands. Google brings up any number of them. One David Trinidad is a nurse practitioner in Richland, Washington. Another David Trinidad plays varsity soccer at Cherokee High School in Canton, Georgia. He is 5'8" and weighs 165 lbs.; his jersey number is 1. He will graduate in 2019. In April 2006, David Trinidad, age eighteen, was convicted of “aggravated battery causing great bodily harm with hate crime enhancements” in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In February of the previous year, he and five others beat a young gay man into a coma outside La Quinta Inn “because of his sexuality.” Ironic, to say the least, given I am an openly gay poet. Who is this doppelgänger, this David Trinidad from the dark side? The attackers met up outside the Denny’s where Trinidad worked as a waiter. Ninetyyear-old David Trinidad, who after serving in the army during World War II pursued a career as a mason, “went to be with the Lord” on March 13, 2018. In Milpitas, California, David Trinidad is a salesperson at Ashley Homestore. Says one customer review: “We purchased mattress and a sofa lounge here at Ashley with the great assistance and help from David Trinidad.” In the Dominican Republic, David Trinidad is a producer and DJ who has released several albums on his own label, OMG Music. I just listened to his “I Need You! (Original Mix)” on Youtube. At first I liked it, but then it started to give me a headache (relentless beat).
On Facebook, there is an endless scroll of David Trinidads. One is a firefighter who studied at Malcolm X College. One is a maintenance technician at Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri. One lives in Chicago (as I do) and is a Cubs fan (which I am not). One is obese (his profile picture is a selfie). One (cowboy hat, mustache) sits astride a white horse. One likes fishing; another, basketball. There are several David Trinidads in the Naked City (New York), where I used to live. (I knew I wouldn’t be missed. But so copiously replaced?) There’s one in Jacksonville, Florida. One in Racine, Wisconsin. One in South Australia. Texas. Mexico City. El Salvador. Peru. Uruguay. Argentina. Pennsylvania. New Jersey. Ohio. South Bend, Indiana. And on and on.
A David Trinidad once sent me an email that said, “I see you’re famous. I’m going to be famous too.” I believe he was a photographer. I’m the only poet named David Trinidad that I know of, though there may be others out there, lurkers hungry for recognition. As of this date (March 12, 2019), I am the only David Trinidad with a Wikipedia page.