POETRY: "Inside these Hazel Eyes" by George Abraham

Inside these Hazel Eyes
By George Abraham

“If you could change your name
to whatever you desire,
what would your new name be?”
She asks me.

And I replied, “Madame,
with all due respect,
that is such a silly question.
For this name is more than a
requiem to 2 presidents;
it’s more than just letters,
and words printed ever so
ephemerally on a small
square parchment;
this name runs deeper than
skin and bone,
and rhyme and reason,
and sense and sensibility
to me.”

She looks at me with puzzled eyes
and says, “Go on.”

I turn to her and say,
“Look inside these hazel eyes.
These are the eyes of my grandfather,
who was also named George.
These are the eyes that saw
rags turn to riches;
that saw farmland in Ramallah, Palestine
turn into suburban paradise in America.
These eyes saw my grandmother bear
3 blessed children,
only to dissipate soon after,
for these eyes belonged to a martyr;
a martyr for the cause of opportunity.
For that great voyage to America,
it killed him,
and I would be ashamed to
allow his name to
dissipate just like his eyes did.”

I pause.

“Go on,” she says.

“Look inside these hazel eyes once more.
These are the eyes of Anthony,
to whom my middle name
resides in honor.
These are the eyes that
saw his father die at a young age,
yet he was the eldest child in his family.
He was a father and brother
both in tandem
to his siblings;
the very essence of responsibility;
the proof that this world hasn’t gone mad yet;
the image that guides my success,
for he was my father.”

I pause.

“Go on,” she says
for she knows my story is not complete.


“Look into these hazel eyes
one last time.
These are the eyes
that carried a bloodline,
once proud and strong,
yet it is turning to dust.
What was once a family
of the most noble people
is becoming a generation of
greed, lust, insubordination.
People ask me why I shoot so high
in my goals, my future ambitions,
and they don’t realize that I was
raised by a bloodline of strength
that’s fading quickly.
You see, I was always told to
shoot for the stars,
not clouds.
Clouds are for dreamers,
but stars?
They’re for creators
and I am the creator of my own destiny.

I am
and will always be
George Anthony Abraham.
I hope this answered your silly question.”

Copyright 2012| George Abraham