We Don’t Name the Winds

Poem

Photo by Mila Young on Unsplash

When I was asked
“What is the name of your favorite wind?”
I couldn’t say.
I don’t know the names
Of any of the winds
And have never even thought
To have a favorite wind.
I didn’t know that was a thing
You could have.

We don’t name our rocks or
Winds or ask them what names
They might already have.
We name some mountains
But part of us prefers K2.
We name some hills, but
Usually for the people who
First owned them.
We use names like flags of conquest,
And don’t hear them like the stories they are.
We don’t name our winds,
Or learn the names they come with.
We don’t know them or
Want to know them or
Want to want to know them.

If we know them or
If we ask,
And they have a name,
They might begin talking or singing
or weeping or laughing.