My friend Elizabeth
just turning sixty
has decided to take on
something her parents evidently
thought unnecessary
when she was a child
the news puts me in mind
of my own Hebrew name
Yerachmiel in its Old World incarnation
(if names can be incarnate)
and Rakhim
in more contemporary form
both from the Hebrew "rekhem"
meaning womb
whence rakhaman
the tender feelings of a mother
for the child of her own womb
like Elizabeth I came to this
my Hebrew name
later in life
think of it only seldom
but it lingers
in the background
as a comfort and a challenge
like the presence of Guan Yin
goddess of mercy
whose name I've chanted hoping
for a heart more open
more attentive and attuned
to the world's joys and sorrows