Where I'm From

It dawned on me recently that I haven't spent any time in my creative writing lately (This blog doesn't really count.).  Not that I spent a lot of time in it before, but, you know, sometimes you just need to get it out.  Actually, I believe that for those who have the propensity (and we all have the propensity, really) to write, not doing so can be the equivalent of feeling snake's venom building up in your blood--you have to take care of it.

So, while I'm thinking about what I'm going to write next, I think I'll revisit a poem I've been working on for years. 

I started this poem several years ago in a graduate class.  It's called "Where I'm From," and it's modeled after a similar poem by George Ella Lyon.  I added the third stanza when I was preparing to leave teaching to stay home with Luke last year (and, to coax my students to write their own similarly titled poems).   I'm posting it now to remind myself that it's time to move on to the next stanza, now that I've spent a year in my new life as stay-at-home mom.  I'm also posting it so that maybe others out there will think about the freeing aspect of creative writing and try their hand at a similar endeavor.

Here's what I have so far:


Where I’m From

I am from “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
From one bedroom, my special place,
Painted sunshine, eggshell, snowflake, sunshine, eggshell.
I am from sleepovers and Sunday School, piano lessons, Girl Scouts,
Family reunions, Twelfth Grade Citizen of the Year, Jack Frost Citizen of the Year,
and dreams of being a teacher.
From Georgetown,
Daughter of Bill and Dale and sister of Megan:
Same thing everyday.


I am from “I love you” and “I love you, too.”
From ten bedrooms, none more special than the next,
Painted standard company white.
I am from colleges, libraries, airports, weddings, thirty states in six months,
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science in Education,
and dreams of being a teacher.
From Springfield, Cheshire, San Marcos, Austin, Burlington, San Angelo, Carrollton, and The Colony,
Daughter of Bill and Dale and sister of Megan, but also wife of Jeff:
Something different everyday.


I am from “Oh Pooooooookie, it’s time for bed now.”
From the master bedroom, still unpainted,
“Crocodile Tears,” “Pony Tail,” and some standard company white.
I am from graduate school, family time, babies, all fifty states,
Europe, blogs, photographs, diapers, laundry, dissertations,
and dreams of being a mother.
From many places, but mostly The Colony,
Daughter of Bill and Dale and sister of Megan, but also wife of Jeff and mother of Luke and aunt to Sutton, Morgann, Olivia, Tanner, Grace, Hunter, Tracy, Colt, Brody, Bella, and Cotton:
Longing for the same thing everyday.


Where are YOU from?!?  :)