Poetry Place Collected Poems

names

I was born John Cosmos Aller
But for most of my life
I called myself Jake Cosmos Aller
Nowadays, I call myself J Cosmos Aller
or Cosmos As my pen name

the name Cosmos has nothing
to do with me being born
in Oakland
growing up in Berkeley

no one buys that story though
Cosmos being such a Berkeley like name

My great-grandfather wanted
an English translation
of the family last name
Aller
looked it up in a German English dictionary

had two choices
Cosmos
or Universe
chose Cosmos
and thus I am the last
of the Cosmos Aller's

Universe would have been
an equally good Berkeley name

But I have had other nicknames
The kids nicknamed me Allergy
And pretended to sneeze
When I passed them by

The name came about
From a dream I had
As a boy scout

I was riding a horse
Named Jake

I would scream
Whoa Jake
Slide aside Clyde
Turn around Verdiack

I started saying these words
When I walked about Campus
And people thought I was a bit mental

So, people simply started calling me
The Whoa Jake kid,
Later simply became Jake

After I left school
I liked the name, Jake
Better than John
Too many Johns
In the world, I thought

When my wife became an army officer
We would sometimes get invites
To things addressed to Captain Lee and Mr. Lee
Got tired of trying to explain
That we had different last names
So, I became Jake Lee

Later when I was in the military hospital system
As a dependent getting operations
The doctors just assumed I was a major
And called me Mayor Aller

I did not correct them
Liked having been promoted
To the rank of Major!

When I started trying to become
Professional writing and blogger
I thought using my middle name
Would be a nice pen name

So now I am either J Cosmos Aller
Jake Cosmos Aller
John (Jake) Cosmos Aller
or just Cosmos

No longer Jake Lee
Or Major Aller though.

unless you are Maya Angelou, Stephen King, or some other famous writer whose name alone is enough to draw an audience, the title is one of the most critical elements of a poem. As the only thing a prospective reader will see while scanning the list of items in a writer’s port or the Table of Contents in a book, it serves as the door that must be opened to enter the realm of the poet’s imagination. If that entrance does not generate some kind of interest, that browser will likely move along to the next item, or maybe even the next author.

Like the names of your children, a title gives the poem a specific identity. Of course, some poets eschew such traditions and leave their work without any identifying reference. Emily Dickinson did not put titles on her poems, even though her editors often did before publication. Frank O'Hara often applied simple, nondescript titles, such as Poem. Would you let your child go through life without a name? Then, why would you ever think of not naming your brainchild or tagging it with some irrelevant label?

Because many poems are so short in comparison with other forms of literature, their names should capture the underlying essence of the expression as it sets the tone and prepares the reader for what is to come. Mark Twain once said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug,” and I believe the same advice would apply to titles for a poem. This can be a struggle in many cases. Sometimes the title comes to the poet out of the blue as inspiration for an entire composition, and sometimes it hides within the shrubbery of the text.

Here are a few suggestions to aid you in your search for the perfect name:

1. Start with the title and let it propel you into the poem.

2. Use the first line of the poem as your title.

3. Provide a brief description of the poem's theme.

4. Find a phrase or image within the poem that can represent the whole.

5. If you are writing a narrative poem, an action verb may help engage the prospective reader with the experience being described.

6. Use your imagination to pluck lightning from the phantasmal cloud of cosmic pixie dust swirling around in your head.

Your assignment: Write a poem about the concept of NAMES.