So far, my name has been left off

the inflection of your question

as though it were a ticking meter,

inescapable and kept to the last second;

your fingers were like shifting clock hands

your eyes opaque bottle tops on a shaken drink

your words, a tide approaching slightly then retreating

and so the forming of your mouth over the vowels

of my name was an unexpected sunshine,

a night parrot landing on my hand;

you are relieved of your timidity, and I

of my ordinariness in your mind:

I have now been solidified in it;

acknowledged and alive

in your world;

I am named