Where I'm From

 The Where I'm From poem project started with George Ella Lyon, who wrote this stunning piece. Now, it is used in classrooms across the country help young poets express themselves. I used the form to create my own version. This is where I'm from.

Where I'm From

I am from a paper grocery bag of dried mint leaves,
from church bulletins hot from the copier,
and a washed evening kitchen.
I am from the suburban bilevel set
into the Pennsylvania hillside.
I am from the canna lilies,
the fiddlehead ferns who unfurled beside me.

I'm from ice cream sundaes for dinner sometimes
and mountains of peas to be shelled.
I am from Warren and Richard and Jeffery,
from Verna and Anna and Maietta.
I'm from church three times a week,
from the kitchen classroom and the lily ponds.

I'm from bless this food to our bodies
and don't slam the door,
from the keys jingling it's time to go.
I'm from takeout pizza and adventures in the stars.

I am from Neversink Mountain and the Schuylkill River,
chicken pot pie and potato filling,
from four black Bibles and a pair of handcuffs.

On our wall was a portrait of two great horned owls,
always silent and watching.
I am from them too,
waiting in the forest,
guarding this house,
calling this land my own. 

 cls
Fall 2019