I'm teaching a quick poetry unit to my sophomores and this week I am having them write their own. In preparing for this exciting week I began searching for my Where I'm From poem that I wrote in high school. I stumbled across it today and it is still very true!

I'm from summer fish fries

I am from church picnics,

from hand-me-down quilts and treehouses.

I am from the acres of grass.

(Tall, blowing and leaning in the wind.)

I am from yellow lantana,

the Mesquite tree

with unclimbable branches,

sharp and pointy needles.

I’m from fishing in stock tanks and romping in creek beds,

from catching fire flys in old mason jars.

I’m from the Jak se mas

and homemade dresses,

from front porch swings and fields of cows.

I’m from the pageant on Christmas Eve

with pews full of family

and lines I can recite by heart.

I’m from Rio Medina and and Czechleslovkia,

homemade pickles and kolaches.

From checking the cows in the red farm truck

with Popo,

playing in hay barns and picking flowers.

The family gatherings

celebrating birthdays, holidays, or not much at all. Where the children play hide and seek, the adults gossip, and everyone slows down to enjoy the company.