For Stephen, from the Greek for crown,
you share your name with kings and popes-
an early martyr for a namesake of my own,
your patron saint damned and stoned.

You share your name with kings and popes,
I share mine with anointed queens.
Your patron saint damned and stoned
for he whose body my name received.

I share mine with anointed queens,
a name to yours in religions bound
for he whose body my name received.
Our monument will be a cross and crown.

A name to yours in religions bound
in each our histories we fall, regrow.
Our monument will be a cross and crown,
joined to each other by spit and blood.

In each our histories we fall, regrow,
an early martyr for a namesake of my own-
joined to each other by spit and blood.
For Stephen, from the Greek for crown.

04/26/2005

Author's Note: subtitle: a pantoum on our etymology

Posted on 04/27/2005
Copyright © 2025 Christina Gleason