“What’s in a Name?” by Elena Bentley
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. This June, Poetry Pause celebrates Indigenous and LGBTQI2S+ poets for Indigenous History Month and Pride Month! Read “What’s in a Name?” by Elena Bentley.
What’s in a Name?
By Elena Bentley
In some circles, I donโt have the right
last name. Didnโt grow up in the right
places. In some circles, my last name
isnโt the kind of name the locals can
follow through town, like a map to all
the right faces. In some circles, Iโm
just another out-of-towner, trespassing,
deep diving for long-forgotten stories
forbidden to strangers. But my last name
is a tributary, a branch joined to othersโ
Cardinal, Laframboise, Lafontaineโ
all the way to the Red River, I swim in
their brisk waters. Treading lightly near
the edges, where raspberries grow sweet
and ruby birds with dark faces trill.
I swim with kin, in my ancestorsโ names.
They encircle my body, carry me along.
Copyright ยฉ Elena Bentley
Elena Bentley is a multi-genre writer and proud Mรฉtis aunty. Her poetry chapbook, taliped, was recently published by 845 Press (taliped was also a finalist for the 2022 Vallum Chapbook Award). You can find her poems in literary journals like Arc Poetry, Room, The Malahat Review, and PRISM international, among others. She received an Honourable Mention in Grainโs 2022 Short Grain (Poetry) Contest, and in 2021 she was a finalist for CV2โs 2-Day Poem Contest. She is the author of the childrenโs picture book The Pickle in Grandmaโs Fridge (YNWP, 2022), and she was shortlisted for CANSCAIPโs 2023 Writing for Children Competition (Young Adult category). Elena is the Editor for Grain Magazine.
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