Make A Bright Black Wish

with or without you

without

Hello, Echo.

with

No friends, no career, no lover, no fear, no end, no other, no brother, no sister, none other, no sinister, no love, no mother, no duck, no cover; no, dear. No liar, no sermon, no mount, no jury, no amount, no science, no sythe, no alliance, no mice, no men, no fury, no amends; no, dear. no lover, not this, no others, no fear, no end, no friends, no pretend, not that, no reply, no what, no why, no hats, no mask, no chat; no, dear. No snare, nowhere, anywhere, no here, no mission, no listen, no gears, no there, no hear, nowhere, no fair, no care, no share, not clear, no below, no one, no above, no hit, no rear, no mirror; no, dear. No fit, no glove, my love. no it's, not it, look down, no wrists, no fist, no fits, no let, no live, no all, no nothing, no get, no give, no take, no breaks, no make, no mistakes, my dear.

far away, so close

i moved

new home
away from home
home made a run
a home run
no one's cheering

i thought i moved
with every companion belonging
came every familiar longing

i said, the only thing moving was you

i was moved

epithet jest

with the amount of times i have said it for clarification, i ought to change my name to: "Samwithawissinfront"
i'd wager that folks would get it right the first time much more frequently than if i introduced myself saying, "wissam".

the golden medallion, much-abridged list of misapprehensions:

wissim
wissum
wossum
wassum
wissaum (popular)
wazzum
wizzum (infamous)
waseem
wassoom
wazoom
wissma
wizzma
wissmin
wahzmeen
wazzmin
wizzmen
wizeen
hussein
osama
ozma (my laugh ruptured at a job interview)
with sam...?
shazam (yes, shazam!)
which i don't mind the least bit: an obscure, unsung, underdog animation.

i am so not a hero.

and then there's this all too often reposte that people yelp, usually teenagers, of which i work with e-ver-y-day, "heyyy!!!!! wAHssUp wissam!" i digress.

withal, the name bestowed much hilarity and has taught me to laugh at myself. apparently, as mother was convalescing and i was suckling, some anonymous woman (nurse? -- we don't know), wandered into the recovery room and suggested the name.

i gratefully await the next interpretation...