Each of us has a name.
You should know what yours is
and if you don’t, you may not have been
paying attention to your parents.
Each of us has a name.
It may be Phil, or Sarah or Neville
or some exotic combination of letters
dreamed up in the moments before your birth.
Each of us has a name
and it is yours forever. Even if you
use the laws to adjust it, the people who
knew you first will not adjust with you.
Each of us has a name
that you can shout from a mountain
and maybe the stars will hear it
or even just one star.
Each of us has a name
and like a commandment, you
shouldn’t take it in vain, or no-one
will take you seriously.
Each of us has a name
which sometimes the people
who aren’t on your side, learn first.
It burns on their tongues.
Each of us has a name
which we put on our papers
which we sign in our books
which we use to say look at what we did.
Each of us has a name
which goes unspoken by
those without language, but
they know who you are.
Each of us has a name
we dream of lasting longer than
our carbon allows. It goes on a stone
when we’re gone.