Where I'm From

I was inspired by a NPR Morning Edition segment of the same name. The audience was challenged to create a poem of home inspired by the five senses and Where I'm From a poem by Appalachian poet George Ella Lyon.

You can read or listen to a selection of the entries here: 
Where I'm From: A Crowdsourced Poem

I'm sharing my poem below.

 

Where I'm From

I am from pet dander and stale cigarettes
Tendrils of smoke billowing in the air

I am from hand-me-down clothes and Kmart shoes

Food baskets on holidays, making do, and doing without

I am from raised voices and hateful words
Trying to fly under the radar
Children should be seen and not heard

I am from mistakes I won’t repeat
I am not the same