---
title: Every name is a cage
date: "2026-08-31 09:00"
form: poem
---

Call it a bird,
and the hummingbird loses its lightning,
the eagle its empire,
the owl its midnight wisdom.

Call it a tree,
and the banyan forgets its centuries,
the cherry its spring,
the cedar its mountains.

Every name gathers,
but every gathering leaves something behind.