My friend Flash
Amazing Rosenberg
sent me this list of popular
names for NYC 2023
thinking it was a good poem.
Oddly enough Esther is a popular
name this year, In the odd
way of Jewish logic I was named
Esther for my grandfather Oscar
who died the year before.
My father had intended for me
to be Olive which he thought was
an Oscar tribute but my mother
didn’t like Olive and so
the Rabbi suggested Esther
using a reason no one
could explain. I haven’t
met many Olives
or Esthers. Though maybe
I will now.
Saw the blessing of a New Jew last week. No Yiddische grandparents, so she chose Esther as her Hebrew name.
In good company! My wonderful Hungarian friend was an Esther. When she escaped to England her new neighbors were Tolkien and CS Lewis.
Wow! Thank you!!! To be referenced in an Esther Cohen "Overheard" poem-post is a swooning 2023 highlight for me. My birth-name is Susan (named after my paternal grandmother Sophie). In the 90s, I performed this bit, "Susans are the Gertrudes of Tomorrow. Awww. Susan was a perfectly good, mid-20th century name. In the 1950s, Susans were in the top ten. Along with the Karens, Debbies, and Lindas. But now, no more Susans. They've gone the way of the Gertrudes, Lydias, and Ediths. Eventually...we all have grandmother names."