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Dick Whyte's avatar

Really wonderful - that opening stanza is so striking 💜 And then big feels all the way to the end. I didn't like my name (Richard), and then went by a nickname (Dick) for years, but my family always had other names for me: Rich, Richy, and so on. I used to hate Rich. And then one day a few years back, I started to appreciate all the varieties, and now I love all the various names people use, and am happy with whatever people want to call me. Naming is definitely a long and interesting journey, particularly with regards to the self. Love that your name means 'luminous' in Greek too.

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Mike Speriosu's avatar

I was just contemplating your name and trying to discern its origin/meaning. Thanks for shedding some light on the matter!

I love your poem. I can definitely identify with the feeling that life is one big dream, and that all of us are made of light in a way we will probably never fully understand (cue clichés about a knife being unable to cut itself, etc.).

I found your paragraphs before the poem to be quite poetic in their own right, which makes sense. Once you train your mind to write poetry, that poetic sense tends to lend itself to anything you put your pen to. The rhyme, whether "intentional" or not, between "withered" and "mirrors" is especially sonorant.

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