-- Call You By Name --

by John Herlihy

A time when I couldn’t call you by name,

A time when I didn’t even know your name,

A time when I found I would have to explain,

Why I couldn’t call you by your rightful name.

Your name safely hidden within a walnut shell,

A name hung within my heart as a tolling bell.

To call your name, I would break into pieces,

Its echo a fluid harmony that never ceases.

In the desert of my heart, your name as a well,

In my evening of days, the touch of a magic spell.

Your name as a breath of wind sounding as chime,

Your name expressed in verses as poetic rhyme.

Your name now memory that always remembers,

Your name evokes emotions revived with tremors.

Your memory will always live on and never forgets,

Lasting sentiments that harbor no lingering regrets.

People often raise the question: what’s in a name,

Your name burns on my wick as an eternal flame.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Thursday 19 October 2023