Where I'm From

Demo piece for 5th grade writing class. Inspired by George Ella Lyon's poem of the same name.

Where I’m from �"by M. Gorgas Cahill

 

 

I’m from stone cottage with thatched roof, from well and water pump in the land of the midnight sun…

from a long one-way passage, charted through the billowing green North Atlantic ocean....

 

I’m from stories of Viking ships, flowy-tailed mermaids,

        from salty fish and savory Frikadeller meatballs, sugar-sprinkled spritz cookies, and snow-crusted Christmas pines.

 

I’m from hand-sewn dresses, with tiny stitches and every seam and dart perfectly straight, or else Grandma ripped it out.

 

I’m from Wednesday shopping, Tuesday laundry, and the house always sparkling clean.

 

I’m from warm woolen sweaters, from fun and scary times on rides at Tivoli Park, barbecued Ribben sandwiches in the heart of Copenhagen,

and all those sour-faced grumpy tailors who sailed from the old country.

 

I’m also from the cobbled streets of Philadelphia, sliced through with the city’s century-old trolley tracks,

And from downtown Newark, Queens, the towers of Manhattan,

and the East and Hudson Rivers.

 

I’m from subways, buses, bridges, zoos, aquariums, and museums.

I’m from smoky chestnuts and sizzling hot dogs in Central Park,

        from artists, beggars, musicians, preachers and politicians.

 

 

 

I’m from trips I didn’t want to go on �"

        trips to the beach when it wasn’t a bit sunny �"

               because, after all, “we go there to swim, and you don’t need the sun to swim.”

 

I’m from dragging around to every country in Europe

        in a blue and white VW microbus

               with five brothers and sisters, sleeping by the side of the Autobahn in icy weather,

because… “You’ll be glad we did this when you’re older.”

 

And now I’m from vans and wheelchairs and rollerskates and soccer and cheerleading and all the things you can still do even when you can’t walk.

I’m from Special Ed, from people and places I’d never have noticed if they hadn’t been stuck right in front of me.

 

I’m from trying to “stay gold,” yet realizing that “nothing gold can stay.”

        I’m from watching dawn turn to daylight, and daylight to twilight

               many times over, and now …

I’m from finally knowing that life is a one-way road.