I follow several poetry-centered accounts on Instagram, both poets’ personal accounts and those that are of poetry-focused groups such as The Poetry Foundation. I even set notifications on many of these accounts so I can catch up with my daily poetry reading, as well as like, comment on, and share the poems.
One of the IG accounts I follow is @secretchords_apoemfortheday which features, as the handle indicates, one poem a day by various poets. Recently on there, I read a poem “Names” by Wendy Cope, published in 1983.
Below is my comment on « Names , » which I posted on the IG account:
This poem really goes full circle and illustrates how names are a reflection of one’s identity and multiple ones throughout the individual’s life. However, it’s also a reminder that no matter what name one goes by, the name does not define an entire identity.
Teresa Sargeant is a journalist and poet. Find more of her original poetry at www.teresaesargeant.com.