By Iorek85 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3704226
I feel like I've mentioned this poem before, but I get it in my head all the time---maybe because it scares me to death [as some of you know, this is exactly how I feel about mushrooms . . . and creeping vines . . . and really anything that grows too fast . . . for another horrible example, see here, if you dare] so I might as well include it here:
Mushrooms --by Sylvia Plath
Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly
Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.
Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.
Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,
Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,
Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We
Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking
Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!
We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,
Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:
We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.
Wooooooh! Scary. We could analyze what it symbolizes. But let's not. Instead, let's imagine that the title is "Marilyns." (Perhaps the analogy is more apt than you might think? "Very quietly"? "Perfectly voiceless"? "We are meek"? . . . Getting nervous yet?) And then let's think about this:
| HowManyOfMe.com | ||
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Are you alarmed? Well, okay, 19 isn't that many. (I'm not sure how accurate this is. I feel like there are like 3 others with my name just at the doctor's office---they always have to ask me for my birthday to tell who I am.) But interestingly, when I change it to my maiden name, the number jumps to 597!
Our kids are fairly unique (namewise---I already knew they were unique in other ways, trust me): there are 3 with Abe's name, 1 with Seb's, and "1 or fewer" with Malachi's (now that could give the kid an inferiority complex---"am I truly less than a person, Mommy?"). I guess they still have a ways to go before being able to take over the earth. Thank goodness.
How many of YOU are there? Is YOUR foot in the door?
I remember that your scared of vines. It's beyond me as to why, but I like it about you. And sadly, there are 1175 of me! But only 1 of me with my maiden name.
ReplyDelete1645 Joels
85 Lincolns
11 Ashers
1634 Claras
28,121 Marys (sad, huh?)
cool post. 'specially the mushroom poem, which I found intriguing and not spooky.
Ah, but Marys _her age_--lots fewer, I bet. So at some point all those others will die off, leaving her alone and unique! Right? :)
ReplyDeleteThere are "1 or fewer" of Chelsea Weidmann and 1 Chelsea Carlile. So Malachi's in good company :) Yay for uniqueness!! I'm not looking up Rob, Sophie or Max. I already know those names are WAY too popular. No, I didn't realize how popular there were until *after* I filled out the birth certificates. And your bag is way cute.
ReplyDeleteI have a fairly common name, so I am not surprised to see there are 1,052 of me. I'll bet most of them are near my age as well. Once I met a kid with my same last name who was marrying a girl with my first name. For some reason, that was sort-of an awkward conversation. I'm not entirely sure why.
ReplyDeleteThat poem is scary--excellent, but definitely creepy.
ReplyDeleteThere's only one or less of me if I go by Ginna--with either my married or maiden name. But a few more as Virginia. Like 99.
That was cool.
Rats, I should never have married. There used to only be 3 of me--now there are 1,423!
ReplyDelete(Mar, you may not want to read this post)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your fear. It is my favorite conversation piece--I hope you don't mind that I've discussed it with people you've never met? But it's so interesting! I remember how you had a rough time with Seth's grandma's name: Marillyn. Sorry to bring that up again. You would have hated the vine that grew into the seminary building where Seth used to work--the teacher actually used it as part of his classroom decorations because it looked like it was supposed to be there.