A Woman with No Name

Descended from fire,
I am earth, and spring,
and graciousness –

Oh, that it were so –
fiery yes, with a love
of nature, but grace?

Truth is I am 5th born,
not supposed to be –
naming left to father

who fumbled in the act,
named me incorrectly
and thus my identity

was born of confusion –
rushed and flustered –
a woman with no name.

(dVerse challenge today is write a poem based on our full names.   Even though I have three given names, thanks to my father, I’ve only been known by initials.  Photo is of a granddaughter.)

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VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

54 thoughts on “A Woman with No Name”

      1. Hi V.J.. So Nice and
        Friendly of you to ask..
        Thanks so much for this
        Reciprocal Communication
        hehe.. in formal Speak as such..
        my Real Name Now Means Peaceful
        Ruler First.. Strong Second.. And Keeper
        of the Land Last as Sir Name Given At Birth..
        My Pen Name Means Pure And Close to God
        And Or Family And Peaceful Ruler as ending First
        Frederick Name
        And it’s True
        Katie is Short
        for my Wife’s First
        Name Katrina that Means
        Pure too with Her Second
        Name Mia for Close to God
        as Family too.. and sure
        She has that Land
        Keeper name
        as Last
        name
        too..
        As True isn’t it fun to
        Give and Share more
        Than Take and Hoard..
        So Nice to See LiFE iN A NamE
        oF Love Free With No Fear FoR NoW At Least..:)

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I love the photo of your granddaughter. ( Did you have a hand in naming her? 🙂 ) And your poem. I love your writing style. I was named after a dancer on the Lawrence Welk show. I never have liked my name but I started taking dance classes at four years old and I haven’t stopped dancing yet.

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  8. A fascinating story, V.J., the moral of which is don’t let men do the important things like naming children! I like the sound of VJ and I agree with Viv, it makes you sound like an inventor. When I was teaching, there was a boy in my class called PJ, which I thought was a bit cruel because the other kids called him Pyjama!

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  10. When I was teaching school, I came across some rather strange first names. I had to wonder if as you describe here someone got in a hurry and spelled the name incorrectly. Some were very strange, like Kquanze! You seemed to have survive very well.

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  14. It’s quite a funny how you visualized it, how your dad “fumbled in the act.” 😝 As if it were a split second mistake that he couldn’t correct and it was too late to come up with something more meaningful at the time. But I’m sure you’ve grown into your name at least a little. I mean, you’re quite gracious about this whole naming fiasco!

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    1. It’s how my parents always described it – Dad so nervous, and writing it down wrong on the forms, and then calling his mother all excited only to find out her name wasn’t even Elizabeth. I’m kind of a legend in our family, where names are concerned, lol.

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  15. i always thought it was not fair that out names are chosen for us, before we are even aware of this construct…i prefer my initials and hope to rename myself one day

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  16. I was given many names. I chose to mix and match them to my suiting–but it all was done before I was 15, so all the credentials of life are consistent.

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  21. I want to say something really sexist here. In fact, I’m going to. VJ’s dad – you had one job!!! Get it right, mate. I love the story behind the poem, but I also love the poem – “my identity was born of confusion” – that’s a great image.

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