2005 Honorable Mention

TALIA HERSHEWE

NAMING LAST NAMES

The proctor at Ellis Island
Asked my situ
“Last name?”
And when she scribbled on
The yellow paper
“Hershewe,”
He rolled his eyes, not bothering
To pronounce the anomaly
“Next!”

And during my first piano recital
Prattling, sickly Mrs. Chloe called
A “Her-SHOO” to play the E flat
Major Gigue by Johann Sebastian Bach,
But his last name was
Flawlessly articulated

When I received my first Communion,
White roses in my ringlets, sanctity in
Smile and dainty genuflection,
Monsignor McFadden announced a
“Her-SHEE-WEE” to the congregation
An ecclesiastical nightmare, and
The euphony of the hymn
“On Eagle’s Wings” became the
Howl of an evil pipe organ

And what about high school graduation?
I pity myself, not for falling flat on
My face in those clunky black heels
Or for reaching catatonia as
I ascend the first step to the dimly lit
Stage, but for my last name
And I beseech that Mr. Sullivan not
Declare a “Her-SHAW” to receive
The diploma next year,
To disgrace my Arabic ancestors
And my posterity: a mispronounced
Last name, a clout, during public debut

Why not return to my country of origin,
Where the sheiks and the “Se-BAH-leeys”
Can pronounce the surname with clarity?
But then, there are the dialects,
Vernacular accents: so my name
Could be a “Her-sher-AH-way” or
“Her-eh-SHAW-ay,” to be forever
An exquisite obscurity, a tongue twister

And for those with the English attachments
Of “Smith, Wilson, and Brown,” the
Clichéd appellations: I cannot find my
Friend, “Susie Johnson,” who lives in
Detroit, because as I flip through the
Onion-paged phone book, I see
At least 1,000 of her

They are the harbingers of
The tax collectors and the F.B.I.,
The conmen and the cannery

So you could change it, abbreviate it,
Or bury it beneath the roots of
Your family tree