appealing

The Maynard
Spring 2016

leaf kotasek

old name

heard my old name today
someone calling their dog
old name
get over here
get the hell over here
you can’t just run off like that

it didn’t ring like my name
you know that feeling when one person in a crowd says your name
it wasn’t like that
but i wanted to yell back
old name isn’t here
they were never here

are we always who we say we are
i used to say i was old name
but it never rang for me
i don’t know who i was then but i
like to think old name is free somewhere
has run off on their own
they don’t come when i call they’re naked in the creek
cold but still swimming