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.