Original Poetry Reflection: "Where I'm From"

For my third original poem, I chose a free-verse poem that I wrote for my family based on George Ella Lyon's poem of the same title. I like the simplicity, the concrete nature of the listed items, and the poignancy of family roots. Because my theme is about subverting expectations as a means to truth, my poem not only addresses the nostalgic aspects of remembering where you're from, but is undercut with a current of sadness. My father died eight years ago, and my mother suffers from Alzheimer's. They are the focus of the poem, lost members of what shapes so much of what makes me who I am. And, even though I am from all of these things and hold them dear, and even though so many of them are physical places that I could technically visit, I don't know that I actually can. No one will stock our lake trips with Pecan Sandies and Diet Coke now that Dad is gone, even though it's a memory we all cherish. My sisters have systematically scrubbed the Scotch Tape from my mother's house. Perhaps the loss of these details is what makes them so dear and clarifies for each person just where they are from.

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