(Inspired by an entry in the Davis Enterprise classified ads, February, 2010.)
Why she changed her name
it didn't mention in the ad.
She may have changed her gender, too,
or got a brand new mother and dad.
You bet she had her reasons, sure,
to file the papers that day, and now she's
Jesse Prancer Ferdinand Teller Fourché.
And should I ever see that name
on a "Hello" nametag sticker
Or spread across a hundred yards
of Times Square news feed ticker,
I'll doubtless still have as many questions
as I have in mind today, about
Jesse Prancer Ferdinand Teller Fourché.
Jesse Prancer Ferdinand Teller Fourché—
Sounds like somebody's pony,
or a bull who sniffs rosé,
Or a clerk who works at the S & L—
Really, who can know or say anything about
Jesse Prancer Ferdinand Teller Fourché?
Trochee, trochee, dactyl,
trochee, iamb in a row,
A fascinating rhythm,
makes me wonder what else there is to know
About the former Anna Leigh Teller,
and how she chose her new a.k.a:
Jesse Prancer Ferdinand Teller Fourché.
4 comments:
I must say, when I googled my name I was checking for privacy reasons. I never expected to find a poem written by a stranger about my quiet little name change post in quiet unassuming Davis. There is much to know about me, and I do appreciate your poetic curiosities about me, and now I wonder, what now that the real me is before you?
I feel compelled to answer, truly.
I changed my name because I needed more space for my many expressions and because they are all my names. My gender has changed plenty throughout my life. My mother and father, not as much.
My name won't fit easily on a name tag, nor could you probably read it in my hand writing, and when I say it most people hear "Jesse" instead of Dusty.
Your estimates of my character were not entirely far off, I guess names say some things. I am very much a pony and have a rose sniffing bull tattooed on my arm. There is so much to know about me. In some ways, my name is just drag like all the other symbols we dress ourselves in.
Thanks for your comments on the poem. I wondered when I wrote it whether I should change the names, and so convey the sentiment without disturbing someone's privacy. But then, I thought, "Who will actually read it?" And I thought, everything factual was pulled from the "Public Notices" section of the paper. If you like, I think I'll go ahead and alter the names, since that might help you create more distance from your former name (given the surprising powers of Google), which you mention in comment as being one motivation for your making the change.
Good luck with your new name, and thanks again for sharing it with the world.
WJ Coats, it is your poem to change but I liked the poem best with the original names!though surely a surprise, the poem was not an unwelcome one and maybe i am just partial but i totally thought it flowed better with my names. maybe just one suggestion?instead of changing the dusty fancy etc part, change all the shes to hes and you have a poem that most rightly fits me. seriously, some of the likeness you gathered just from my name was totally great.
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