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What's in a Name?

A Satire by Phil Ginsburg

Phil Ginsburg
I feel this poem, in it's whimsical way, tries to make some points about having our identity taken from us or imposed upon us by the powers that be. The results make us struggle to retain our identity and sometimes creates tensions with others. Now corn syrup is causing other people to become impatient and peevish.

Corn syrup in this poem also seems to be in need of an attitude adjustment concerning being mistakenly identified with other ethnic groups--Italian, Mexican and Jewish. Even corn syrup, it seems, has some sort of uppity air about itself.

And, of course, the power of name and it's place in this life and the life to come is alluded to here. One side note: My wife's maiden name is Cavallo which means 'horse' in Italian. My name, Phillip, means lover of horses. Yeah, names. Yours, mine, our children, they do connects us in ways we don't fully understand.

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