NaPoWriMo 2026, Day 21 prompt: Write a poem in which you muse on your name and nicknames you’ve been given.

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I never met maternal grandfather, William,
nor do I know any nicknames he had.
Mom named me after her father,
a Welsh Presbyterian, born there.

If my sex was female, likely given
mother’s family history, I was to be
Wilhemina — a moniker mom and sisters
liked to (teasing) call me growing up.
I never cared though.

Billy worked throughout high school,
classmates still use it,
but was later made Bill. I don’t know
for why or by whom. A few friends used
Scratch (as in pool), but it didn’t stick.
That’s a nickname for the devil, Old Scratch,
it could have made a good story.

Nicknames given in military (my career) are often
uncomplimentary and teasing. Obi-Wan
was pinned on me when I was a B-52
crewmember during the Star Wars
craze (1977), the Alec Guinness role,
not Ewan McGregor.

Such names do not often transition
outside the military. I was the oldest member
of my crew (as is Ben in the movie), but some
thought me “lucky” and that “the force”
must have been with me. Maybe so.
I’d rather be lucky than good any day.

Nicknames like Maverick, Iceman, Goose,
Rooster, Phoenix, and Hangman* are assigned by peers
from personalities, mistakes, or play on last names.
“Buffalo” liked to call me “RJ,” my last name is Reynolds.

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Look both ways at the names we’re called.
Mind the gaps and don’t let the humor hide the respect hidden under the **mayonnaise.

• Nicknames from the movie, Top Gun.

**From the movie, An Officer and a Gentleman (1982).