Dear Readers,

Just for the sake of variety, I sometimes submit a poem for use in my column space. Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and I do want to keep my column 'spicy.' Lately, living has consumed every second of my life, (I guess it has to.) and I have had no time for writing new poems. Here is one I published about a year ago. If you remember it, I hope you enjoyed it then, and don't mind a re-run now. If you don't remember it, forget what I just said about it being a re-run.

By Any Other Name

By G. E. Shuman

I think a lot, of sounds of words;

Of why I like some I have heard.

And wonder from where those sounds came,

When calling something by a name.

William Shakespeare, Bard of old

Is often quoted, it is told,

That a red rose would smell the same

If called by any other name.

                                                                   

But I do doubt it, as I write

That dawn would sparkle, if called night.

That big blue oceans would be fond

Of someone calling them just ponds.

And what of names of babies, new?

While parents, pondering what to do,

Pronounce their new sweet daughter, 'Myrtle'...

A name best suited for a turtle.

Words frame feelings, I have found,

As through our brains they swirl around.

Some names sound sweeter when we say them,

And bring us joy when we display them.

Some just fit well; and show some wit.

While others make us cringe a bit,

When tied to something we might wonder

Is a rash choice, or thoughtless blunder.

'Petunia,' a pretty name, somehow...

To call a flower, or even a sow.

It may be the name of your pet razor-back,

But just try it on a huge quarter-back.

                                                     

And then there are names for restaurant food;

Business ones that set a mood.

“Joe's Spaghetti” may be pedantic,

But “Olive Garden” is more romantic.

Yes, old Shakespeare would shake his head

At my dispute of what he said,

That the red rose would smell the same

If called by any other name.

Still, I contend, our thoughts are rounded

And finished when a word is sounded.

If rose was known as squash or beet

Somehow, it wouldn't seem so sweet.