Tom Laichas: 9 Poems from “Naming the Animals”

Some wonderful poems reimagining the Genesis story, over at Underfoot Poetry–

Named and Nameless

In the midst of the naming, the boy asks: What’s your name?

The Voice remembers: years in the future, others will ask this question. The reply is the same: I am what I am.

The boy: That’s not an answer. We’re all what we all are, nameless or no.

The Voice: But it’s you who must come when called.

1.
Once torn apart, the two freshly skinned bodies take the names given to them. The boy takes one name and the girl another.

They learn the words I and mine.

It will be easy to swallow the fruit.

2.
The girl wonders aloud: what name would I take if the verses hadn’t spoken first?

3.
About his own name, the boy says nothing. He thinks: it has been mine all along.

That first week, all the seasons tumble…