I took her name… - fran claggett-holland

[Larry Robinson]

I took her name…

I never thought to change my name.
Born knowing it was women I loved,
we did not have the custom reserved 
for others. Marriage was not a possibility
even though we lived together,
worked together, shared everything—
dreams, clothes, dogs, bed.

After fifty four years,
during which life changed
around us, laws that had seemed
written in stone, opened up 
new ways of thinking about our lives.
We married, thinking it was for the cause
but found it was really for us.

Still, we never thought to change
our names. Until…
Until, not the way we planned it,
(we were to be together, somehow)
she was gone. I alone remained
living for both of us, and I wrote a poem,
signed it as usual, then, almost without
thinking, added the hyphen
and her name became mine:

	- fran claggett-holland