I no longer have the name I was given
when I was seven it was changed
"for your safety"
Like my mother would care enough to come find me
the only thing she cared about was her next fix
I didn't get a say in the changing of my birth name
They changed
One
Letter.
One letter later I had a different identity
I hated the name, told my adoptive mother so
every time she called me it I responded with
That's Not My Name.
but here I am, ten years later, responding to a name I hate
It reminds me that they didn't care enough to listen to me
That's Not My Name.
sometimes when strangers ask me for my name I am still tempted
to respond with the name of my past
it is beautiful, it was MY NAME.
All I wanted was to have an opinion, to be heard
To keep my name my name my name MY NAME.
That's not my name

This is a tale of the lives
of fools who are wise
a balancing act of love
hate truth and lies.

A carnival-style society
pull up stakes no time
to commit and contracts
full of loopholes so
there's always a way
out of it.

Nothing's for certain
too many choices keep
our heads raised high
to see in a consumer's
world that the grass is
greener on every side.

A lifelong love doesn't
seem to be a part of
this game of quantity
not quality but in spite
of it all I still hear love
calling out my name.

First I hear you laughing
then I hear you cry
the promise of forever
then the promise of
goodbye.