Fanny Linguistics: Nickole by Nickole Brown

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend March 9, 2015   Fanny Linguistics: Nickole   Nickole Brown

What people don’t know about my name is that my grandmother gave me that “k”                            —my very own unexpected consonant—                             those two strong arms and two strong legs, that broom-handle spine—                             that letter about no one with a name same as mine has.   A mis-              spelling, really—                           the same botched phonetics of all her girls’ names,             misspelled but fancy   as chandeliers—Latonna Lee, Candies La Rayne, Lesi Annett                —names that know never to drink               lemon water from a silver fingerbowl   but names that can be bobbed with a “y”                and cheerlead.   Now, she called me Koey, so don’t expect me to respond to the first nasal tone of my name               but the harsher            cough    that follows, that typo tambourined from the back of the throat. I’ll answer to cold & coal & coke,                           sometimes               even hear that sound as a scoop of coco, something dry   from the tin, but warmed with a little sugar and milk, a name snowing               while it’s safe inside.            Copyright © 2015 by Nickole Brown. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “This piece is from my Fanny Linguistics series, a group of poems that explore the particular way my grandmother used (or mis-used, depending on who’s talking) language. You see, she was raised during a time when women weren’t necessarily taught how to read and write, so coupled with the specific way of speaking given to her in Western Kentucky, she had to make do. Now, my mother gave birth to me young (she was only sixteen), so it was up to my grandmother to fill out my birth certificate. The ‘k’ in my name has caused more folks to misspell my name than I can remember, but it’s mine. Now that I’ve had a lifetime with it, I often think of that strong, unnecessary consonant as a small mark Fanny made on me to help keep me upright and strong as the letter itself looks. —Nickole Brown   Nickole Brown is the author of Fanny Says (BOA Editions, 2015). She teaches at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, where she also lives. Most Recent Book by Brown   Fanny Says (BOA Editions, 2015) "Adjectives of Order" by Alexandra Teague "Reduction" by Page Starzinger "Immortality" by Craig Morgan Teicher Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038