My uncles meant well
they called me the woodgnome
but when I became the big brother

I thought it was metaphorical
my name an omen, the Little One
named after Paul, the great one

for whom only Jesus was great
And little I am, puny
besides billions of people, no one

can learn that too soon
because the great names
that are important to us

are simplifications and falsifications
of lives into icons
of a later story

that even makes us dream
we could be great on our own
not together