My father calls me Rox.
It is not my name.
It is short for Roxanne,
which is also not my name.
Neither of us has ever spoken
about how it began, or
why he chose it, or
how it is that it stuck.
Nor has he ever asked me
if I like it.
I do.
I like how it sounds.
Rox.
Like something strong.
Something solid.
Something potent and powerful.
Rox would not say yes
when she means no.
Rox would just laugh
if someone told her
she were pushing more weight
up the hill.
Rox would not wonder
if she has a voice worth hearing.
Not like Rosemerry, that flowery
one concerned with everyone’s
happiness,
she is still learning
the art of being
a Rox.
I wrote this poem (is it a poem?) off of a prompt I gave to some high school students yesterday. First we listed every name that we are called–given names, nick-names, not so nice names, what we call ourselves, labels and roles … then we chose one of them and wrote on why they suited us (or did not suit us) … I was so surprised by what came out!
Stone By Charles Simic
Go inside a stone That would be my way. Let somebody else become a dove Or gnash with a tiger’s tooth. I am happy to be a stone.
From the outside the stone is a riddle: No one knows how to answer it. Yet within, it must be cool and quiet Even though a cow steps on it full weight, Even though a child throws it in a river; The stone sinks, slow, unperturbed To the river bottom Where the fishes come to knock on it And listen.
I have seen sparks fly out When two stones are rubbed, So perhaps it is not dark inside after all; Perhaps there is a moon shining From somewhere, as though behind a hill— Just enough light to make out The strange writings, the star-charts On the inner walls. “Who would prefer the jingle of jade pendants when once he has heard stone growing in a cliff?” Lao Tzu
The power of Poetry http://www.powerofpoetry.org and Red Thread Gold Thread http://www.redthreadgoldthread.com
Wellspring of Imagination http://www.powerofpoetry.org/wellspring_of_Imagination.htm
one of my favorite poems. i used it yesterday with the high schoolers as a madlib. Sorry Mr. Simic. It was a demonstration of how specificity creates humor …
That’s great. I hope you shared it with your students, or at least will send it there to be shared. Naturally, I love the pun part of it, but it’s more solid than just pun, Rox. It plays with the idea of identity so well, and especially when you get toward the end and reveal the Rosemerry factor. Nice.