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Poetry 

Collective

From Mattie to Matthew

By Mat Zulpo

I have a name

A name that I despise

It feels foreign to me, even though its been mine since before I was born

It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, bitter and sickening

So I cut it in half.

So similar yet a world of difference

Just 3 letters less and suddenly I was me

But just like me it wasn’t perfect

So I changed it again

Add 4 letters to the 3 I liked so much

Take the original change one letter and add one more

A name from a book

The same book that told me that what I am is wrong

Told me to be a housewife when I wanted to be a working man

And from that book my takeaway was a name

A name that wasn’t always mine

The name of the  patron saint of accountants

The job I will someday have

my colleagues will call me Matthew

Because I was always him

But I wasn’t always he

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