Where I'm From

I am including my "Where I'm From" poem that I was required to write for class preparing me for teaching abroad (EDC 554):

Where I’m from

I am from rolling hills

and green pastures

I am from summer days

and firefly nights

with scabbed knees, toes caked in mud,

and hair tangled from the wind.

I am from freckles and blue eyes

a Bluegrass Baby

chasing the kiss of the Sun.

I am from the sound of the night train

and the moonlight casting monsters

in my bedroom past dark.

I am from fried chicken and okra,

the strongest coffee known to man

from gardens

and apple pickins’

From bourbon and beer

and eating on worn quilted blankets.

I am from mistakes

and from forgiveness

from an open-mind

in a closed-hearted town. 

I am from drag queens,

cigarettes, and orange mint gum

The smell of lipstick

and burned hair.

I am from autism

from the fear of loving someone

so much

that you would give it all up

in a second.

I am from the sacrifice and fear

that comes from this kind

of sisterhood.­­

I am from curiosity and passion

and stories I have yet to tell.

I from the clock I can hear ticking

in my heart

in my mind

and on my wrist.

I am from the urge to leave it all behind

at least for now.