Where I'm From

This was an English project due awhile back, that I have really taken a liking to. It is an extension of George Ella Lyon's poem "Where I'm From"

I am from sketchbooks

From Crayola and Speedo

I am from the pothole-infested backroads

(craterous, dangerous, and the key to the door filled with an ensemble of swear words)

I am from Japanese maple trees,

Whose red complexion rose out from the stones surrounding my grandmother’s driveway.

I’m from Christmas morning pancakes and loudmouths

From Trinity and Jason

I’m from the anger issues and productivity

From “Because I said so”’s and “You’ll thank me later”’s

I’m from wafers and wine scratched from the divine and sermons on Saturday evenings

I’m from Wheeling and Niagara Falls

Chicken-stuffed shells and handcrafted spaghetti

From the end of my father’s vigorous smoking

The tending of my mother’s vegetable garden

The steel box containing ancient, swooning love letters

That hold family ties which now seem absent.