People called Michael Jackson

The man in marketing tells me
he is not in charge of petty cash
I’ll need to speak to Julia Roberts.
I say “Julia Roberts?”
He looks at me like I am odd, then smiles. “No,
not that one.”
It took him a while to register my confusion, to him
She is just Julia Roberts
not JULIA ROBERTS,
even in writing this the name has become pallid.
All over the country there are people called Michael Jackson
not disguising themselves with masks or headscarves
but the shortening of ‘Mike.’
There are people in every city getting on with their lives,
barely tolerateing the sniggers
when they introduce themselves
as Pete Doherty, Sharon Stone,
David Cameron,
Steve Davis.