It has been a busy week as classes started again. My offering this week is a little poem we did for attendance and class introductions. We were given 5 minutes to write with prompts like, “what does your name mean” or “how do we pronounce your name?”
I kind of just jotted down whatever popped into my head, intending to refine it if time permitted. I don’t know much about what my name means. It is not often mispronounced- and honestly, I am not too bothered if it is. I don’t associate my name with any negative experiences. I am named after a great aunt, whom I never met, but have heard some stories about.
What my name means to me changes in any setting, at any age. How is my mood that day? Who am I surrounded by? My name is my name. And while I enjoy it quite a bit, feel at home in it, I don’t think I could tell anyone, let alone a group of strangers, what my name means to me.
My name varies,
Flowing between different versions of me
Madeline is who I’ve grown to be
Grounded yet guarded
Matt is the child still within me
Soft and sweet
Mattie stands somewhere in between
A paradox of all things
Let these identities melt away
For I am just me
Please- call me what you want
So long as it is laced with love
I Think, I Feel 
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