WHAT’S IN A NAME?

   Two sides of me are represented in
   My names: one cheerful and the other glum;
   For “Alan” means I’m blithely free from sin,
   Though “Ernst” is darker, solemn, cold and numb.

   My last name then reiterates the same,
   Since “Nordstrom” says that I’m a frozen stream:
   This double oxymoron in my name
   Implies I’m the reverse of what I seem.

   So when you meet me, what should you expect—
   A two-faced fellow with a Janus head:
   Sly, ambivalent, and indirect,
   Or someone unpredictable instead?

        Fear not, for I’m exactly as I look;
        As you see here: my life’s an open book.

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