A couple of years ago <br />I wrote a poem titled <br />“Why did you name me Javier… Dad? ” <br />which looked at the meanings behind <br />my four children’s names <br />which was complicated by the fact <br />that they had latino names <br />and we lived in Madison Wisconsin <br /> <br />Diego Jesus Marjil Mireles <br />has become Colombicano <br />his screen name for instant messaging <br />it stands for half Colombian <br />and half Chicano <br />and it stands out <br />in a virtual world of names <br />like monkeylover <br />peppills and whokilledkenny <br /> <br />Lorena Pilar Barbosa-Mireles <br />has become ChicanaHottie27 <br />I can figure the Chicana part fairly easy <br />I am not even going to touch the “hottie” thing <br />the number 27 gets a little more confusing <br />since she is only 15 years old <br />but was born on the 27th of the month <br /> <br />Javier Oscar Barbosa-Mireles <br />has never been called Junior <br />or Oscar the second <br />just Javy or <br />Chavs by his brother Diego <br />his screen name is ChicanoPlaya25 <br />which at 12 years old <br />is a lot to live up to <br /> <br />Sergio Andres Barbosa-Mireles <br />goes by the name of Pimpasmurff <br />which I think he first signed on at in 6th grade <br />he has been too lazy to change it <br />or I think he only hears the pimping part <br />plus he forgot the smurffs are blue little creatures <br />from the Saturday morning cartoon scene <br /> <br />So as I tally up the score <br />three of my four children <br />have self-identified an unmistakeable latino name <br />in cyberspace <br />to let others know <br />who they are, <br />and where they came from <br /> <br />In this era <br />of blending in, and forgetting why <br />they have stepped back <br />reached inside <br />for something as simple <br />as a name<br /><br />Oscar Mireles<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/why-did-you-name-me-javier-dad-part-2/
