By Professor Vakunta
What’s in a name?/
A name is everything!/
There’s nothing more important/
Than a person’s name./
A name bears an identity/
A culture and a worldview/
Why then do we toy with the names of folks?/
People no longer bear their real names!/
We take liberties with other people’s nomenclature,/
Thereby rendering them hunchbacks of sorts/
Elizabeth has become Beth or Lisa,/
Jennifer has been re-christened Jenny,/
Susan has metamorphosed into Sue,/
Patricia has been reborn Pat or Patti,/
Christopher has been transformed into Chris;/
Michael is Mike,/
Charles is Chuck,/
James is Jimmy,/
Henry is Hank,/
Lawrence now passes for Larry/
How about Jerome?/
He has been rechristened Jerry!/
Holy Cow!/
Robert is Bob,/
Emmanuel is Manu,/
Samuel is Sammy,/
Joseph is Joe,/
Thomas is Tom,/
Bonaventure is Bon/
The list is not exhaustive./
Why are we doing this to own own?/
We make people feel like/
Human counterfeits!/
Dogs don't call dogs doggy/
Humans do that!/
Pigs don't call one another piggy/
Humans do that!/
And do you know what they do /
To folks who have tongue-twisters/
Like tchokolokobangoshia?/
Or Shosholoza i-Afrika?/
They ignore them altogether?
Isn’t that cool?
Listen, people’s names are their most
Treasured gifts from birth.
We have zero leeway to
Trifle with nomenclature.
Vakunta 2020
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