Name Me: 2016

Ideas can be powerful

I do not have a name. Christen me Ishmael, Nemo, Israel.

Name me legend, nation, idea. Create in me

something that will never be forgotten. Embellish my

title in the steel gates of the cities, spray paint my memory

on the statues and fountains.

Name me a whisper, spread in the streets. Murmured from

prostitute to preacher, a rebellion among the masses.

Finger it in waste under horses, battle cry when blinded,

weighing feet, heavy on the tongue.

Carve my name in walls of cathedrals. Write with

confessional blood on robes of the holy.

Form the letters from the rising smoke.

Echo the song hummed from the overflowed gutter.  

Name me silence. Hear me everywhere.

Reviews

[Norman 223]

A wonderful encapsulation of the degradation of what was once called the truth. So many names, so many "truths", yet in real life, so many contradictions.
Beautifully written in a "classical" style that emphasises this enigma.

[ReedWrite]

This is powerful and profound. Beautiful!

[barleygirl]

WOW! WOW! And WOW! You have crafted one of the most original statements I've ever read (and there have been many spoken & written) about how our world seems to be going in a sorry direction these days. I love your title . . . this is what 2016 could be named . . . all these things described in the poem, this is the world we're living in & just name me 2016. I like the personification of the era & I especially like the way you play with religious themes dripping in sarcasm. Very powerful statement.