Moment is My Name

By Katherine Toppin

As the pen fills the blanks, mother’s words bite my conscience.  She struggled with naming me until my warmth filled her arms: Moments of pain replaced by lasting joy. Single and alone, she shared colorful splashes of me in her life: My first toothless smile, happiness, sadness, apprehension, fear, but never disappointment. You make my life purposeful.

In bed many nights, her lullabies made scary shadows vanish.

“You’ve completed the wrong name-change form, Miss,” the clerk exclaims.  She returns with another.

Back through the exit door in shame, I remain as I am named, Moment.