I wrote this poem to this prompt: What weight does your name hold? Write about the power, history, and significance of your name. Names carry stories even when the stories are lost.
long since gone,
from whom my name
was birthed.
No photographs exist
to compare
my face to theirs.
Still, for my father to have chosen these two
holds weight with me.
Letchrender Malinda Casey -
lived to sixty-seven.
In South Carolina now she lies,
James Robert at her side.
Surname Kirby, like mine.
Two more now added
but a Kirby I remain.
Mary Adeline Clayton —
lived to seventy.
In North Carolina now she lies,
William Calvin at her side.
Surname Patton,
the one I honor from ancestors revered.
Her daughter,
my grandmother - so beloved.
What are their stories?
There were no tales told,
no reasons given,
no significance bestowed
on why these two were chosen.
A baby girl born in fifty-two -
my father’s choice,
his two paternal grandmothers.
Thankful always he chose not Letchrender.
I claim the mountain town,
Swannanoa - home of the
Davidsons, Alexanders,
Claytons, and Pattons -
early settlers in the Swannanoa Valley.
Gifted land for both a church and cemetery,
the oldest in Buncombe County.
I choose them for my lineage.
But I made Melinda into me.
Mary’s grave I’ve seen,
read her name,
bestowed it on my firstborn.
And now my Mary -Mary Angela- will carry us all -
~ Mary Adeline
~ Letchrender Malinda
~ Mary Melinda
Onward.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Read 11 times
Written on 2025-11-06 at 20:07
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Namesakes
Two great-grandmothers,long since gone,
from whom my name
was birthed.
No photographs exist
to compare
my face to theirs.
Still, for my father to have chosen these two
holds weight with me.
Letchrender Malinda Casey -
lived to sixty-seven.
In South Carolina now she lies,
James Robert at her side.
Surname Kirby, like mine.
Two more now added
but a Kirby I remain.
Mary Adeline Clayton —
lived to seventy.
In North Carolina now she lies,
William Calvin at her side.
Surname Patton,
the one I honor from ancestors revered.
Her daughter,
my grandmother - so beloved.
What are their stories?
There were no tales told,
no reasons given,
no significance bestowed
on why these two were chosen.
A baby girl born in fifty-two -
my father’s choice,
his two paternal grandmothers.
Thankful always he chose not Letchrender.
I claim the mountain town,
Swannanoa - home of the
Davidsons, Alexanders,
Claytons, and Pattons -
early settlers in the Swannanoa Valley.
Gifted land for both a church and cemetery,
the oldest in Buncombe County.
I choose them for my lineage.
But I made Melinda into me.
Mary’s grave I’ve seen,
read her name,
bestowed it on my firstborn.
And now my Mary -Mary Angela- will carry us all -
~ Mary Adeline
~ Letchrender Malinda
~ Mary Melinda
Onward.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Read 11 times
Written on 2025-11-06 at 20:07
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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