Given Name

My name is Jung Ran 정란

I was born in Korea

Before I was given away 

I wonder if my mother named me

or was it

fabricated-

written in a document to fill in the empty spaces 

my tiny body swaddled in a wool blanket 

severed from my family 

generations lost 

who belongs to whom

My name is Jung Ran 정란

I was born in Korea

Thousands of miles away 

in my black and white photo maybe

I looked more like a Lisa or Jennifer 

a name easier to pronounce

more pleasant, less Asian

My name is Jung Ran 정란

I was born in Korea

And what if I reclaim my name

then will I feel more Korean

to have strangers mispronounce it 

tongues knotted and twisted

Jung, not June

Ran sounds like fan

and sometimes they do not 

say anything at all

My name is Jung Ran 정란

I was born in Korea

I imagine screaming my name

among the graves of my ancestors 

louder and louder

the echoes 

vibrating against the raging oceans 

rising over the peaks of mountain tops 

until I am carried back to my homeland 

My name is Jung Ran 정란

before

any other name.