"Never let anyone
shorten your name,"
said the Sage.
"You need Mary
for your strength."
And since then
I never have –
though, before that,
I liked Rose …
being a rose.
Mary. I ponder –
The Great Mother?
Or the sea?
(Rosemary means Rose
of the Sea.)
Mary the Mother
endured all things,
and was brave;
while the sea
is ancient, wild.
My namesake plant,
that resilient shrub,
has a fragrance
not sweet, but
faintly salt-tinged.
"Don’t," I say,
"call me Rose.
Friends call me
Rosemary." I smile,
and they comply.
