When I think of all the Annes
in my life they’re all you almost
you’re the Irish girl with the blonde
corkscrew curls in Cincinnati but
you’re also Anne of the thousand
days and poems my mother’s
name is Anne the heroine of my
novel of the twentieth century
which begins in Vienna moves
to London with Freud and sneaks into
New York during the “phony war”
in 1939 Anne is the name of the first girl
I loved and it’s always spelled with an “e”
I lost my virginity to a Brandeis girl
named Anne and a Sarah Lawrence girl
named Anne lost hers to me I’m a big
fan of Anne and will always be
-- David Lehman
