What's in a Name?

We were given our names for a reason:

so when the teacher called upon us, we knew

to stand; when father singled us out by name

we could accept the blame; as mother scolded

at the table, we knew to close our mouth to chew.

Some fool, and I believe it was Shakespeare

who claimed, a rose by any other name…

I recall my Army days when the drill sergeant

singled me out to police the area for discarded

cigarette butts. He pointed to me with a

sternness in his voice, putting the lowly rank

of Private before my name. I could have been

someone, somewhere other than where I find

myself today, you know, had I been assigned

Paul or Robert, Stuart or Michael, even Betsy,

Margaret or Sally as my name.

Chris Hanch 5-16-18