For Poem: A Virtual Poetry Group February 18, 2008
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My Name is Linda
Water.
Snow.
A cloudy night,
the wind
hanging limp
in the trees.
A lake
before daybreak,
the dull side
of aluminum foil.
The moon,
an empty dinner plate.
It might be from the Spanish
meaning “beautiful”
but they’re not sure.
Or it could be Germanic
meaning “soft, tender”
but, again, no one knows.
My dad
named me
after a popular
song in 1949.
He didn’t know
I would become
a poet.
He didn’t know
I needed
a name with weight:
Elizabeth,
Victoria,
Wait. Those are queens.
Rebecca,Sarah
No. Too biblical.
When I started
writing poetry
I considered
a pen name
like L. Ryan Jacobs,
Ryan being my maiden name,
But that was too snotty.
So, I remain
simply Linda,
making snow angels
in the winter,
adding a little Kool-Aid
to the water
and watching
the sunrise spear
across the lake,
the moon
break in exclamation points
through the clouds.
5 comments:
well i for one get all happy when i see your name listed as one of my comments... so i would have to say linda is a perfectly beautiful name.......
i like "L. Ryan Jacobs!"
and i like how you've explored your name in this piece -- does it parallel your process of self-discovery? for example, you talk about a couple different places you'd looked for a "better/different" name but it didn't fit and then it seems you accept linda ...
so nice.
Linda is great - it sounds like a sonorous bell.
I wish I could write poems like this.
keep up the good work.
if you want check out my poems - there is only one in English, most are in Greek.
http://daysleeperpoems.blogspot.com/
Please keep posting.
I love the Kool Aid metaphor with the sunset. It was very clever and unique. Feel free to post your work on my website. It would be an honor Linda.
from Therese Broderick--Linda, I think this poem is filled with gorgeous, original metaphors. I once read that one test of a true poet is whether he or she can come up with an original, fresh metaphor for the moon. And I think you've done just that. Congratulations! The "empty dinner plate" and the "exclamation points" are very striking and memorable. Even worthy of a lunar eclipse (did you see it last night?)! I also love the "dull side of aluminum foil." I, too, wish that I had written lines like that. Wonderful poem.
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