Birth Name by Barbara Leonhard and Nolcha Fox

Birth Name by Barbara Leonhard and  Nolcha Fox

I was born a fiction,
a death, a hardship,
a drowning, cholera,
thunder, hail, rain.

No wonder I catastrophize.

I’m a dream, as well.
Each day, two suns wake me.
A warm hearth and hot coals.
I survive with an umbrella
and ibuprofen. At times,
life support.

Like hot coffee and chocolate.

I rebirth with dark coffee 
and darker chocolate
I cradle in front 
of  a hot-coal 
hearth every morning.
Each new self
should have a new name.
Wow, that’s lots
of names to remember.

Does each new sun 
have a name? 
All the billions of suns.
All the billions of us.
Do mothers hear the sun
whisper our names?
Is the sun the keeper 
of self?

*Nolcha’s lines are regular, Barbara’s are italicized

Author’s Bio.

Nolcha Fox’s poems have been curated in print and online journals. Her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominee for 2023 Best of The Net, 2024 Best of the Net Anthology. Nominee for a 2023 Pushcart Prize. Editor for Garden of Neuro.

Website: https://bit.ly/3bT9tYu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoxNolcha

Medium: @nolchafox_14571

Author’s Bio

Barbara is a retired ESL instructor. Her poetry has been published in various literary magazines and anthologies. She’s also written a poetry collection Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (Experiments in Fiction, 2022), which is about her relationship with her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. The book is a best-seller on Amazon. Barbara is also the Editor for MasticadoresUSA. She lives in Mid-Missouri with her husband and cat Jasper.