If
R didn’t exist, I never could have.
On
alliteration homework assignments,
I
wrote my name next to generous, genuine, gregarious
All
obtuse
R
worked in the shadows:
Radiant, reflective,
resolute
.
Royalty,
strangers called me.
I
perfected my name’s soft curves,
I
referenced a different history altogether.
The
rhythm of my family pulses in my middle
It
punctuates my symphony with a slow movement
It
reminisces of my ancestors’ voice
Now
lost under six feet of another country’s dirt
Better
they don’t know.
Better
they rest in unvisited tombs
Their
deaf ears hardened
To
crashing waves and thick Italian
Their
hardwood caskets
Forever
adorned with an immortal Rose.
(Inspired by Mary Karr's "Revelations in the Key of K")
