Viv, Vivi, Vivikins and Wivvy,
Pest, Stooge, Bub and the like.
Fancesca Malinka -
pet name from my Dad,
Sally called me Mrs Morley,
Clockwork Freckle was Jock’s joke,
Grim-faced plain Vivienne: disgrace.
At school I was Spiv
which I liked for the rhyme,
and for being accepted,
forgetting that spivs
were reprehensible wartime
black marketeers, whose goods
fell off the back of a lorry.
All these are merely substitutes
for the beautiful name
chosen by my godfather,
Robert Henri Louis,
also known as l’oncle Bob
by Vivienne Frances Showell/Smith/Blake.
This has undergone some editing since posting at Poet Bloomings
It must be years since I called you ‘Mrs Morley’ and I have no idea where the name came from do you? Sally
No idea – it may have been from a TV programme?
Some folks make fun of my blogging and reading other blogs; they are involved with more substantial tasks. Among other things I gain from reading blogs from writers all over the globe is learning. Call me ignorant, but I never heard the word “Spiv” before. So, Vivienne, I thank you for this delightfully entertaining poem, and for the vocabulary lesson that went along with it.
Don’t we meet some nice people through blogging, as well as learning a lot!
It is a very pretty name. k.
I shall forever think of you as Vivienne Frances now. How appropriate, Viv.
What a lot of people you have been
Love this, Viv.
Your humour really shines through.
This may be my favourite poem of yours so far. This has love in it, humour in it, your life in it. YOU in it. It is real and personal and strong. I really really love this poem. c
That’s a big thank you for me.
That was a great idea for a poem with lots of lovely ideas in it also. I liked the mention of Spivs, too – it has been a while since I heard the term