THE NAMING OF THE SHREW

avatar

Now that our parents put their prayers
on our necks like grinding stone,
what are we to do?
Don't you see how they name us;
wealth, praise, promise, god hears.
How do we become amen?
Because my body
has been returning back to the earth
& god is not hearing my nocturnal grief.
I hear that naming has power
& these clerics are pouring their paranoia
into this smouldering ember.
Since wealth lies beneath the sea
& promise is bleached bone in the teeth
of the Sahara, how long
will I pretend that I am yea & amin?
What name is a body
that resists connotations?
What identity is a body without agency
in this city where vultures are gods
& hyenas mock the night?
My friend, where is your trauma situated?
How many days have you breathed
on your bed & called that living?
Yet I rise to the occasion.
I lay hands on my body & say be healed.
After, don't you always gather your rucksack
of meat & bones & bring it back
to your father's house to be buried
where the dogs cannot scratch?
What is in a name?


psychology-1957259_640.jpg
Pixabay




0
0
0.000
5 comments
avatar

There is a lot in a name. There is power in a name. A name has a way of shaping the future of the bearer. This is why Ichabod had to ask God to change his name.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yet those who bear names like miracle or gift, how often do they get miracles or are miracles to others, how often does gift represent a gift in people's lives?

0
0
0.000