If Connie is short for Constance is Bon-
nie then short for Bonstance? Was the proper
name, then, of the bank robbing team of the
30s Bonstance and Clyde, and was my fav-
orite actress in the late 60s Bon-
stance Bedelia? To name one’s child Bonstance
would require a certain amount of con-
fidence in one’s constitution that a
child named Bonstance would not grow up to hate
you for naming her—or him, even—Bon-
stance. Bonstance, go to your room. Bonstance, take
out the garbage. Bonstance Franklin, will there
ever be another day as beauti-
ful as this one is in Beverly Hills?
-Jose Padua
Photo by Jose Padua. Jose Padua is co-author of the blog Shenandoah Breakdown.
Poetry