Cona Adams Poet Light Verse

What's In a Name

My name is Cona. Have you
ever heard such a name?  Well,
let me tell you, where I grew up
you were always referred to by your
full given name, whatever that was.

Therefore, I grew up as
Cona Faye, with a drawn-out
emphasis on the first syllable.
“Why, it’s Ko-o-o’na Faye,” they
would say, using the long “O”

This wouldn’t have been 
so bad, except that we were 
farmers who raised corn.
All the boys at school 
called me "Corny." 

We moved to a new town.
My name changed to “Faye.”
No more twang, no more slang
end of problem, end of story.
Except, now, I’m often called

Fern or Fran or Kay and no one
spells my name with four letters
It is either F-a-e or F-a-y
but almost never F-a-y-e
Oh, well, what’s in a name?

   cfa © 7/28/03

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Connie Marcum Wong November 20, 2015 at 5:35 PM I really like your name Cona. It is unusual and that bodes really well in the poetry world and that is important not to get mixed up with a name too many people have. A great poem and story about your name. I have delt with corny a few times myself. Cona Adams November 21, 2015 at 7:31 AM Thank you so much, Connie. I really like your name too. I suppose we are lucky we weren't given one of those older names like some of our grandmothers had. My grandfather had four (FOUR) names. He always used his third name. Go figure.

Ilene Bauer October 28, 2014 at 7:27 PM i enjoyed reading about your name, which is unusual. i'm glad you've reclaimed cona - it's nice to be unique and it goes with your poetry... Cona Adams October 28, 2014 at 8:04 PM Thank you, Ilene. When you're a teenager, you don't think about what a short span of your life that period is. Those silly boys were soon gone from my world, but by then, our entire family had already switched to my middle name. But there are several other writers with the name of Faye Adams, so I am trying to find my way back.