Yesterday my name was mint leaf
Cool and crisp
An oasis in the turquoise stillness
The cries of the flycatcher above
In my pale green

Today my name is abyss
Wide and void over the wild expanse
A tornado cracking
Over the mouth of a volcano
Its molten center about to release
Destruction and creativity at the core

Tomorrow my name will be Shiva
Yellow in the noon hour
I cross the shadeless square
Holding the handle of my pistol cocked
Poised to take flight

My father called me Jesse
A bandit in making
Leaving me to unfurl
And shed the skins of experiences
Lives lived like indelible
Watermarks on the soles of my hide

My grandmother called me “gioia”
A joy to her heart
Her voice an echo in the sunny afternoon

Sometimes I was also the oximoric giant dwarf
An outgrown baby swathed in silly innocence

Today I look past the broken eggshell
At what lies ahead
Sifting seeds through my fingers
They are earthy and warm

The story is there to be told
Of the nameless mother who
Lost in time, forgot her story
And now it is ours to unravel
Through capsules of life
Ours and hers
In a mouthful of bliss and a tear of hope