For the person who obtained my debit card number and spent $11,000 in five days <br /> <br />My pale stepdaughter, just off the school bus, <br />Scowled, 'Well, that's the last time I say my name's <br />Snodgrass!' Just so, may that anonymous <br />Mexican male who prodigally claims <br /> <br />My clan lines, identity and the sixteen <br />Digits that unlock my bank account, <br />Think twice. That less than proper name's been <br />Taken by three ex-wives, each for an amount <br /> <br />Past all you've squandered, each more than pleased <br />To change it back. That surname you affect <br />May have more consequence than getting teased <br />By dumb kids or tracked down by bank detectives. <br /> <br />Don't underrate its history: one of ours played <br />Piano on his prison's weekly broadcast; <br />One got rich on a scammed quiz show; one made <br />A bungle costing the World Series. My own past <br /> <br />Could subject you to guilt by association: <br />If you write anything more than false checks, <br />Abandon all hope of large press publication <br />Or prizes—critics shun the name like sex <br /> <br />Without a condom. Whoever steals my purse <br />Helps chain me to my writing desk again <br />For fun and profit. So take thanks with my curse: <br />May your pen name help send you to your pen.<br /><br />William De Witt Snodgrass<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/who-steals-my-good-name/
