{"id":2742,"date":"2018-03-21T20:16:06","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T20:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridareview.cah.ucf.edu\/?post_type=article&p=2742"},"modified":"2018-03-21T20:16:06","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T20:16:06","slug":"poems-about-what-we-call-things","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Poems about What We Call Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

First Name<\/strong><\/h3>\n

My mother calls my name with three<\/p>\n

short a<\/em>‘s tangled in roots of dandelions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gold tufts that grow no matter who tries<\/p>\n

to pull them up. These a<\/em>‘s hide in the black<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

crescent of dirt under my nails and swallow<\/p>\n

my s<\/em>\u2019s when my young tongue is learning<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

how to say my name. My grandmother calls me<\/p>\n

to her kitchen stool with three glass-blown<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

a<\/em>‘s perched on my vertebrae: all feather, royal<\/p>\n

red stretching a thread the length of my spine,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

drawing me up tall and narrow. These a<\/em>\u2019s<\/p>\n

are helium on the roof of her mouth. She<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

inspects my nails and scrubs the moons clean.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Those ducks in the baseball field are plastics bags.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The caterpillar<\/p>\n

on the window frame<\/p>\n

is chipped paint.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That old maple tree<\/p>\n

melting through chain link<\/p>\n

is your neighbor\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

outstretched hand.<\/p>\n

The alarmed flight<\/p>\n

of sandhill cranes<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

is your window A\/C unit.<\/p>\n

The man thrown<\/p>\n

into the street<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

is a stop sign<\/p>\n

swept in headlights.<\/p>\n

You are not waiting<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

alone at the bus stop<\/p>\n

is an oak tree.<\/p>\n

A raccoon curls<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

into the storm grate.<\/p>\n

You uncross your arms.<\/p>\n

The crow looks up<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

from his preening.<\/p>\n

The man blossoms<\/p>\n

in your chest<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and before you shout<\/p>\n

he does not step off the curb<\/p>\n

into the green light.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maiden Name<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When I marry, I lose half the syllables<\/p>\n

in my last name\u2014a decision to sell<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the dining table in a yard sale<\/p>\n

because of who it reminds me of and not<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

because it isn\u2019t sturdy. Unmoored<\/p>\n

my signature sinks below the line<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

on my grocery store receipts<\/p>\n

and cuts the paper dolls holding hands<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

at the wrist. None of us knew the West<\/p>\n

Virginia tobacco farmer whose name<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

we\u2019ve practiced. We hardly know each other,<\/p>\n

but when I had all my syllables we appeared<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

like sisters. You can see we all have the same<\/p>\n

square hands, are missing the same teeth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I crowd documents with various combinations\u2014<\/p>\n

the given, sold, and stolen names\u2014as if lifted<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

from the shelves of an airport gift shop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mother calls my name …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2746,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[562,6,563,564,565,566,567,568],"class_list":["post-2742","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-alessandra-simmons","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-first-name","tag-language","tag-maiden-name","tag-metaphor","tag-names","tag-those-ducks-in-the-baseball-field-are-plactic-bags"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPoems about What We Call Things - The Florida Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poems about What We Call Things - The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My mother calls my name ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Florida Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/03\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"532\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"361\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/\",\"name\":\"Poems about What We Call Things - The Florida Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-21T20:16:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/43\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg\",\"width\":532,\"height\":361,\"caption\":\"Poet Alessandra Simmons.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/article\\\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poems about What We Call Things\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Florida Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cah.ucf.edu\\\/floridareview\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Poems about What We Call Things - The Florida Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Poems about What We Call Things - The Florida Review","og_description":"My mother calls my name ...","og_url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/","og_site_name":"The Florida Review","og_image":[{"width":532,"height":361,"url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/03\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/","name":"Poems about What We Call Things - The Florida Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/03\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-21T20:16:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/03\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/03\/Simmons-Alessandra-2-horz.jpg","width":532,"height":361,"caption":"Poet Alessandra Simmons."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/poems-about-what-we-call-things\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Poems about What We Call Things"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/","name":"The Florida Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/2742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}