Names

Names - A Digital Poem [[Play]] [[Credits]]

A tale of (link:"two")[(link:"three")[- wait how many am I?]]. "What's your name?" [[That depends, who's asking?]] (if: visits>1)[ [[Opal]] [[Oliver]] [[Olive]] [[Snake]]] [[Return->Start]] <a href="https://poetslunchbox.neocities.org/">Homepage</a>

Written by, well - me, what my name is you can decide for yourself after reading. [[Play Again->Start]] <a href="https://poetslunchbox.neocities.org/">Homepage</a>

You've known me for [[so long->Opal]] You know me [[so close->Double the names]] You don't know me and might [[never see me again->Oliver]] You wear a badge and your smile can't hide your [[secuity camera eyes->Airport security]] Youve never met me before and youre (cycling-link: "pretty", "hansome"). [[Say hi->Sliver]]

Opal why do i love my name on your lips? so much no im not talking about a lover no i mean friends, peers, emcees why do i love my name and pronouns on your lips better than mine better than the ones who gave me this name? that is simple, no one likes their name being an echo of wrong or panic or guilt A stone given absent mindedly they didn't know how perfectly it would fit and what a travesty to have a name gifted to you without the giver knowing what a gift it was let's go back not to the dictionary no to the periodic table the only way i got here was the chemistry i have with myself (link:"silica")[technology] and (link:"water")[life] come together to make me find me deep in the earth but also on mars i am your becon of life on a blushing red world and now, i don't do astrology but if i did isn't it funny that i, a masc enbie was found of mars and earth and not the storm of venus you claim i come from mine and a polish me to find a pearly rainbow (link:"ever changing colors")[ever changing genders] semiprecious because you can love me to pulto and back but i'm still independent opalecent and yet what is it about something so well worn with uncanny exaction that makes me skitter towards a properly [[tight itchy collar of a name->Oliver]] [[no no, not that name->Play]]

Oliver Started as a game an upbeat rhythm a skipping heartbeat a hidden heart's seam a string through a crack unraveled a balance for a bridge to travel but then a single steady step turned into many why am i more scared on solid ground than on the creaking bridge with a ravine ive tried so hard to forget [[on either side]] [[no no, not that name->Play]]

Olive Sometimes a spin in a femme is nice And if it can be my other name hemmed up Well that's too clever to pass by Still would much rather pass as a guy But I know sometimes I have to pass under [[watchful eyes->Airport security]] [[no no, not that name->Play]]

A name is a chosen name if you choose to keep it around A magician formed out of mist but now he's made his rounds A ghost: Can he walk if given solid ground? Can this shadow stretch into three dimentions? Will I turn if it's him they mention? Did I pretend to get lost? Is it really me that is him? Or another name that I found A name fresh picked dripping and soaking Am I you or are you new Is it just change that I'm cloaking? Waiting for a sapling to grow into a tree Are you waiting for a twist? Or is this truly to be free? Is it because you cannot be hatched without a shell? Ghost without a host Without pain you cannot be well? Is there soemthing you need to lose in order to prove this is what you chose? Is this name a releiving breath or just a counting of the next step? Is this your pace or are you painting up a race? Was the last one too perfect? Need something to work with? Something to tear down So that the new you has a new sound? Or were you new at all? or is that just what they call? weren't you always this?: fluctuating on a [[precipise->Olive]]. [[no no, not that name->Play]]

Snake After [[Oliver]] stopped being a skipping game I need something else to slither by as A skin to keep on the internet and molt When I show you my true [[colors->Opal]] [[no no, not that name->Play]]

Do not mistake this garden of names for a cemetary Though I may place down flowers to honor names past These ones are not past My [[given name->Opal]] is not a deadname It is hung in the balance A mobile supported on all sides swings in the wind Each name hangs down on its own I am the whole contraption Every [[gear->Opal]], [[pulley->Oliver]], [[screen->Snake]], and [[deadweight->Olive]] part of my [[clockwork->Play]]

Airport Security Scrutinize my (link: "given")[(link: "first")[legal]] name. "That's a girl's name, yes?" you ask. As a dark-magic wand scans me for metal, melanin, binders, borders - threats. [[But I am not my passport photo->Play]]

So many stories start out the same. "What's your name?" you ask with sparks in your eyes "(cycling-link: "Oliver","Opal","Olive")" I will reply And maybe with this new name and your new face A new chapter can start Where we run away with the dandelions on the wind Past behind us Trampling cliches in our wake I'm still waiting to find you after I [[wake->Play]]