What My Name Became
The one who was wished for in the humid, Ohio summer
The one who was first planned
The one who prompted cravings of Nilla Wafers with cream cheese
She who came while her father chain-smoked in the waiting room
Swaddled in pink and handed to her mother who woke from twilight sleep
The one to be proud of, no secrets to hide
First girl in the family
Princess of books and paper and pencils
Hair curling like black semicolons in the handwritten scrolls of Alexandria
Strides into the day
She who refused to cry when being spanked
Daughter who tries to please
Daughter spring rain
Daughter who looks to the skies
She who teaches her love of words and ideas
One who loves fearlessly in a world full of fear
She who birthed three children and knows they aren’t hers to keep
She who wants security but imagines flying free
She who has her head in the clouds
Jodi (derivative of Judea)
Anne (for the grace of her grandmother, Zenilda Anne)
Susey (for the Abbruzzese who left the old country for a new one)
Eaton (for the ring she wears on her finger, an heirloom from a marriage past)
Hippie Sis, stubborn
Little Goog who is still very much her father’s daughter
Daughter who is a pillar of strength
Daughter of resilience, Daughter who always gets back up
Daughter sunflower who plants her roots deep
Daughter who stretches high into the sky
where she will take on the colors of stars.
The one who was first planned
The one who prompted cravings of Nilla Wafers with cream cheese
She who came while her father chain-smoked in the waiting room
Swaddled in pink and handed to her mother who woke from twilight sleep
The one to be proud of, no secrets to hide
First girl in the family
Princess of books and paper and pencils
Hair curling like black semicolons in the handwritten scrolls of Alexandria
Strides into the day
She who refused to cry when being spanked
Daughter who tries to please
Daughter spring rain
Daughter who looks to the skies
She who teaches her love of words and ideas
One who loves fearlessly in a world full of fear
She who birthed three children and knows they aren’t hers to keep
She who wants security but imagines flying free
She who has her head in the clouds
Jodi (derivative of Judea)
Anne (for the grace of her grandmother, Zenilda Anne)
Susey (for the Abbruzzese who left the old country for a new one)
Eaton (for the ring she wears on her finger, an heirloom from a marriage past)
Hippie Sis, stubborn
Little Goog who is still very much her father’s daughter
Daughter who is a pillar of strength
Daughter of resilience, Daughter who always gets back up
Daughter sunflower who plants her roots deep
Daughter who stretches high into the sky
where she will take on the colors of stars.