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Which poem should I read at my daughter's naming?

Asked by sarahsugs (2906points) July 12th, 2011

My daughter’s baby naming is coming up soon. Her first name, loosely translated, means “speech,” “speaker,” or “statement.” Her middle name means “life.” I would like to read a poem – of high literary quality – that in a beautiful way expresses the meanings of her name. I am having trouble finding something suitable. I am not looking for any cheezy, generic “poems for baby.” To give you a sense of my taste, this is the closest I have found:

——————————————

Morning Song
by Sylvia Plath

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.

Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue.
In a drafty museum, your nakedness
Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.

I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.

All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.

One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral
In my Victorian nightgown.
Your mouth opens clean as a cat’s. The window square

Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.

———————

However, something is not quite right about it. Other favorite poets of mine include Mary Oliver, Michael Ondaatje, Robert Hass, Billy Collins, though I am open to any others as well. Any suggestions? What poem would you offer as a blessing for your daughter?

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