©Linda Kulp Trout 2023
This week IF I COULD CHOOSE A BEST DAY edited by Charles Waters and Irene Latham arrived on my doorstep. It is a beautiful anthology with poems of possibility. Every poem is fantastic! I especially enjoyed reading the poems written by our Poetry Friday friends.
As I was reading, I remembered that I had written an "If" poem for WRITE WITH ME and decided to share a revised version of it today. I've always been fascinated with names and how they are an important part of our identity.
I've known students and adults who were unhappy with their first name and chose to go by a middle name, nickname, or legally changed their name. Most parents put a lot of thought into the names they choose for their children. I wish I'd asked my mother how she chose my name. Linda was a popular name choice back then in part because it was the title of a popular song. Still, I wish I knew more about why she chose it.
How about you? Do you know the story behind your name? Do you like you name? Do you think you'd the same if you had a different name?
A big thank you to Margaret for hosting this week's Poetry Friday on her blog Reflections on the Teche.
Linda, how nice that you had a new poetry book to read this week. It does sound like a good one. I'm not sure if I'd be different with a different name. My name, Denise, is the feminine of Dionysus, god of wine making, fruit, festivity, fertility, insanity, and more!
ReplyDeleteMy middle name is Denise. I've never gone by my middle name, but it was used my mother when I did something I shouldn't have. : )
DeleteA happy memory of my grandfather is that he called me Linda Denise. I didn't know about the connection to Dionysus.Thank you for sharing that!
Oh Linda, I love this wondering "if" poem! I do think names have such an impact, they surely shape us in many ways. I remember a girl from when I was growing up who changed her name from Jennifer to Jenna. I've also loved my own name, so I feel blessed that it was a good fit for me. xo
ReplyDeleteThank you, Irene. I've always liked me name and feel that is is a good fit for me, too. We are lucky that our parents chose names we like!
DeleteLinda, “I Wonder” hit home. It is something that I have often pondered. Certain names (like Tracey) tuck you into a slot in time, a personality, or a role. I feel badly for the heat taken by “Karen” in recent years! Impossible to know all the ways our names change us, but I do believe they influence us and how others react toward us.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Tracey. Linda is another name that is dated. Everyone I know with that name is around my age or a little younger, but some "older" names are gaining popularity again. : )
Delete"IF" is certainly a fruitful way to start a poem. I wonder what I'd be like IF I'd been named "Iphigenia"? : )
ReplyDeleteYes, that could be fun!
DeleteThank you for sharing your "if" poem-- it's lovely! Funny story: I was supposed to have a different name right up until I was born. And then I appeared, and I wound up a Sarah Grace instead. Your poem speaks to a question I've wondered since I was a kid!
ReplyDeleteI actually had two names picked out for you older son and didn't decide until the minute I saw him. Sarah Grace is a beautiful name!
DeleteHow fun that you had a poem that plays right along with Irene and Charles' new book! I refuse to answer to just plain "Mary." I've always been Mary Lee. Lee was my father's brother who was killed in WWII. It's my honor to give him a way to live, even though his actual life was cut so tragically short.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that, Mary Lee. That is quite an honor. xo
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your poem, Linda. I like learning about names, too. I'm named after my mother, so not unexpected. Growing up she was Rose, and I was Little Rose.
ReplyDeleteWhat an honor to be named after your mother. xo
ReplyDeleteI've wondered about this! My mother has had several names in her life, because, like many immigrants, her names were changed to be more "Canadian" when she arrived in Canada. Her first names are similar, but the last names are completely different, removed entirely from her heritage. It's a strange thing, to become an entirely new person on paper, but be the same person inside! I've wondered about that for celebrities, too - having one name for your family, and another the world knows you by, like you're two different people sharing a body!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this happened to your mom. Hopefully, things have changed. xo
DeleteI love your poem, Linda! As far as wanting a name change, well, I was always fine with my name until "Karens" became such Karens. 😄
ReplyDeleteKaren is a lovely name. xo
ReplyDelete