Rosetti forename Dante Gabriel
knew the tenets of PRB so well
His interest though was short-lived
love of his models never did
Imagist Skipwith Connell
an unusual forename as you can tell
No bios seem to exist
notwithstanding with his 'Nocturne' do persist
Van Eyck with forename Jan
was a portrait painting man
He was also artist cum diplomat
famed for 'man in a red turbanned hat'*
*https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-eyck-portrait-of-a-man-self-portrait
I come before you, humble and contrite,
deaf from your thunder, sightless from your bolts.
You rage, but frankly it’s a downright
anachronistic in this day - the volts,
the decibels, all of these fireworks
are for a newbie, not for someone who
once looked inside your mystery black box
and made a plain and obvious breakthrough:
we do not differ, you and me. The same
blue eyes, short beard, marital status, age,
surname, forename and patronymic name
and tendency to fall into a rage
about nothing… So, please, abate
your fury, put aside your thundering rod,
absolve me of my sins, elucidate
your plan about me and date me, God.
Well, what can I tell you about both my names?
I'm not quite sure where I should start,
'Vivian' means 'lively' which raises a smile
to friends of this tired old fart.
It's not very common as names for men go,
and famous Vivians very few
Viv Richards the cricketer and Vivian Fuchs
the explorer, they're the only two.
My surname's from Derbyshire, Wirksworth, in fact,
all sweat and pickaxes and fire,
and I now don't think my forename is that odd
with an ancestor named Obidiah.
My forebears were lead miners, hazardous work
with poisonous ore and rock falls
and looking back over my family tree
I'm surprised that I'm here at all !
23rd November 2015
for contest 'What's in your name', sponsored by C.T
What’s in a Name?
Jesus had been thrown out of the café, he tends
to get laud and argumentative after wine.
Water into wine not a good idea.
Outside, he upended a few plastic tables, police
were called they drove him to the local station
put him in a cell at the back.
A cold cell after a few hours he was shivering
and they let him out he had a long walk home
to the cottage he shares with his mother
Jesus is a good lad, they all say so, and no one
but me is intrigued by his name, in this part
of the world it is a common forename.