Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Growing into my name



My name came from a dead language 
Echoing a young mother's prayerful hopes 
For the eldest child to be favored by Almighty One
She, who defied her family's wish for marriage
Lit candles, knelt in the pews, beaded her tears to dusk-   

She called me by my second name
And I grew into it 
With a gentle sponge, sloughing off my rough edges
And as years passed, shaping my arms to paddles
My feet, into round hulls of boat 
My father gave me the wind sails  
I crossed oceans, learning to navigate sea of sorrows 

Though I tested boundaries of the reversed name - disgrace - 
I never got sucked and stuck in the pit 
Through all my journeys, my mother's devotions    
were constant as a lighthouse-

I sank into my skin
In all its wrinkles, wounds and flints
And as autumn leaves churn colors
so bright and dazzling, with every breath
a beating of sun's fire
a roar of wind's tempest

A grace of acceptance of this life's journey:
Gratitude







Posted for dVerse Poets Pub:  What's In A Name, hosted by Amaya.  Please join us for an interesting challenge.  Here is a bit of information of my name:



ORIGIN:
HEBREW  /  LATIN 
NAME ROOT:
(MIRIAM) (GRĀTĬA)
NATIVE NAME ROOT:
MARYÂM / MIRYÂM (מרים)
MEANING: 
This is a combination (composed, blended name) of Mary and Grace. It is of Hebrew and Latin origin and comes from the following roots: (MIRIAM) and (GRĀTĬA).
Miriam:  sea of bitterness or sea of sorrow
Grace:  gratia (favor, thanks, good will)

24 comments:

  1. I love how your name became your life... I can almost see how the name and you are one.

    Especially love: shaping my arms to paddles
    My feet, into round hulls of boat

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  2. A lovely title, lovely poem, lovely name, Grace. I especially enjoyed these lines because my daughter is Grainne (Irish form of Grace) Ellen but we call her Ellen:
    'She called me by my second name
    And I grew into it
    With a gentle sponge, sloughing off my rough edges'.
    I also love:
    'I sank into my skin
    In all its wrinkles, wounds and flints'.

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  3. Oh, that's good. I like the reminder that your mother named you, that your name carries her dreams and hopes for you.

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  4. What a tale you have woven. Love the backstory to your name, and how you tried to defy it, and how life has settled you there.

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  5. Wow, your poem shows how you needed both names for balance and, really, to become who you are. I liked this,
    "And as years passed, shaping my arms to paddles
    My feet, into round hulls of boat
    My father gave me the wind sails
    I crossed oceans, learning to navigate sea of sorrows"
    because it shows how you were carved, as if by God, to live up to your name and your parents' love for you.

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  6. Love how you take "grace" through all it's iterations on your life's journey with this poem.

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  7. You wove this beautifully. I love how you grew into your name as you’ve navigated life.

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  8. Grace is a gift, and something to aspire to--as are you and your words. You had me at /I sank into my skin/in all its wrinkles, wounds and flints/. Another great example of wordsmithing.

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  9. Your name is you and you are your name. Made the journey your own.

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  10. Lovely poem, appreciate how you grew into the name, in essence became the name. Interesting, in order to grow into 'Grace' you tested "disgrace" but 'grace won out...beautifully done

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  11. I love the last full stanza, and this:
    "She, who defied her family's wish for marriage
    Lit candles, knelt in the pews, beaded her tears to dusk"

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  12. A beautiful sharing of your roots and the evolution of you! I especially like the imagery of becoming the boat to take life's journey.

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  13. Simply breathtaking. Love love love this, especially:
    "beaded her tears to dusk"

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  14. This was amazing, one can feel your name journey. I think it is a gift to have wind sails as you can weather the storms of life. It takes strength to navigate the sea of sorrow.

    My father gave me the wind sails
    I crossed oceans, learning to navigate sea of sorrows

    You are full of Grace in so many ways!

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  15. I believe Grace is such a beautiful name with so much Spiritual meaning behind it. This is a really heartfelt poem Grace.

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  16. Nice description: "my mother's devotions
    were constant as a lighthouse"

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  17. reminds of a very Asian thing, to call a child by their second name when parents want a different course of life for them. you grew into your name most gracefully.

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  18. Through all my journeys, my mother's devotions
    were constant as a lighthouse-

    Another testament of the strong bond with one's mother when growing up.

    Hank

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  19. This is lovely. I especially liked the second stanza. Your name has beautiful meaning, and you breathe beautiful meaning into your name.

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  20. I'm with Bjorn: I love how you tell the story of how your name forged your identity. Wonderful!

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  21. Beautifully written! Fortunately, your parents were great guides and allowed you the freedom to be able to indeed define yourself so well.

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  22. This is simply one of the most beautiful things I have seen. Every line unfolds with quiet power and life. I felt like an entire life was painted in essence with:
    “beaded her tears to dusk”
    Strong poetry. Such a gift to have an essential truth built into your name as well as your life, a circling symmetry. Sorrow without Grace would drown us. Grace without Sorrow would not even be recognized.

    I love the maritime images, the canoe which transforms to a mighty vessel, the lighthouse, which frame the circling of journey and center, finally arriving not at a port, but by sinking... into peace and unity. The person becomes the essence and the destination. Oh what a lovely ocean!

    “I sank into my skin
    In all its wrinkles, wounds and flints
    And as autumn leaves churn colors
    so bright and dazzling, with every breath
    a beating of sun's fire
    a roar of wind's tempest”

    This is brilliant Grace, and I’m not just whistling Dixie. 💜

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