Name

Embellish his name
clean it
polish it
shine it up
just a little bit
please

reach down
pull it from the mud-
isn't that the kindest thing
a person could do?

say something
say anything
even if it's not true
make it up
lie
it doesn't matter

not where he's gone
it's for the ones left behind
you don't stop being a mother

there's a picture; only one
he's twelve, thirteen
holding a football, grinning
boyish, innocent

just seems out of place without
a name.