Τζάιρο or gyros / Ergon or Εργκον?

I was born in Texas
but have no idea how to say
that word out loud
i want something to read
alternative, independent,
something written
beyond the blessing of authority
to think about that thing
Is it Ergόn
Is it Έρgon
Erκγon or Erρgoνν
Is it argon or gorgon
jargon or parergon

Oh yeah
It's called Ergon Ergon

now i know
Ergon: Greek/American & Diaspora Arts and Letters
say it our loud
name it
spread it around
let others know
you can say it now
without fear...

=====
Composed to make this point: if you wish to make a public reference to the online journal Ergon (https://ergon.scienzine.com/) do so by naming it. You owe that much to your readers and those who labor to make Ergon possible. Period.

Inspired by,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9QOYYq3GkE&list=RDP9QOYYq3GkE&start_radio=1

Local Outsiders

we are the pariahs of the parish

the outcasts, the unfit
we commune Saturday nights

in taverns of the lowest rank
drunk, wasted to numb
working class exhaustion
before next day’s ritual
read red editions
rejuvenate in that fiesta
the only carnivalesque
surviving in town
we laugh we fart
not mincing words
“parish the par rich”
accents of difference
no deference to identity police
berated with the berettas
of parish conformity
aging in libraries
boiling in social rage
in public display
dripping stains on the name
of the good ethnic
rejected by the p-a-r-i-s-h
where cultural critique
a rotten radish

parts of local history
within the gaze of the parish
outside of its purview
that’s who we are
pubs, poetry clubs
publications we edited
unions, dreams, feelings
from parish archives excised
almost always in silence 
the reason of my worry
I do not see this story
in ink to sign it with a tear
I lend an ear its lore to hear
in popular memory we fade
I fear perishing
before leaving a trace
I better join the writing race
the immigrant local outsiders
to grant a voice of all genders.

August 9, 2025