My Pronouns Are Cataphoric [1]

by Thomas Redoubt

My personal pronouns look forward

to the person I am becoming,

not back at the person

I am leaving behind.

Image credit: Naomi Harvey on Unsplash

More than just a list of words,

my pronouns are my avatars

with particular personalities

from the context of my life.

Could you know that context

without first knowing me?

Could I expect you

to know without first telling you?

Does any of this matter?

Yes, when our relational pronouns

are you and me

but not when they

are us and we.

[1]           "Cataphoric pronouns" have subjects which are yet to be identified ("He is John"), in contrast to "anaphoric pronouns" whose subjects are previously identified ("John is he").

***

Thomas Redoubt

Thomas Redoubt is from Freedom, Pennsylvania, a small town on the Ohio River north-west of Pittsburgh and now lives in Allison Park, Pennsylvania. He was trained in science and law spent the first half of his non-literary career as a materials science researcher and the second half as a lawyer and law school adjunct professor. Redoubt has a passion for writing poetry and sees poetry as the epitome of one person to communicate his/her thoughts and feelings to another.