uzi, if a girl

my wife wants

to name our third daughter uzi

for protection, she says

i think of how much

our youngest will hate the name

i envision her anger like the presence of god

whenever schoolchildren bully

uzi will return fire

meetings will be called, therapy suggested

i touch the orb of my wife’s expanding belly

i foresee fights with her sisters

personal crises

words they will never forget, never forgive

coming in waves, violent and fevered

impossible to mitigate

uzi never backing down from a slight

her name rising from the embers

of every dispute