A Body Requires A Name. A Name Implies You Belong
to a man with the same name. I no longer belong
to manhood. I give up my name to claim a body
that requires a new name; it is a marriage, of sorts,
to a new body of knowledge. The poor Irish & Scot
brides of my mother’s mothers, the poor Irish brides
of my father’s mothers, the poor Algerian bride
of my father’s father’s father’s mother, the Cherokee
promises of my father’s mother’s father’s father. A body
there required a name; to change earth for home
and home for worth, belonging to a name. What if
there were no names other than what we claimed
at that moment? A river of names. A sound of all
hopes as loud as the river’s roar? Yes, more please.
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Cassandra Whitaker (she/they) is trans writer living in rural Virginia. Whit's work has been published in Michigan Quarterly Review, Conjunctions, The Mississippi Review, Lamba Literary Review and other places. They are a member of the National Book Critics Circle and an educator. Wolf Devouring A Wolf Devouring A Wolf is forthcoming from Jackleg Press in 2025. wolfs-den.page