Written for my poetry group

I Am From (with George Ella Lion)

I am from saw dust,
coal dust, fairy dust.
I am from paper dolls, old maid, jump rope
I am from Little Golden books
stacked higher than I am tall.
Hans Brinker, Heidi and Little Match Girl.
"You mean she never saw her mommy or daddy again?"

I am from black walnuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts
I found on the ground and ate.
I am from ramps, moonshine, home brew.
I am from fruit cake my mom made at Christmas.
from the Perkinses and the Goldens
I am from pull my finger, gotcha nose,
make funny faces.

I am from sit down and shut up.
Be seen and not heard.
Stop crying or
I will give you something to cry about.
I am from little dyed blue or pink chicks at Easter
along with new shoes and a bonnet.

I am from family reunions, church every Sunday
with neighbors, hymns I still remember:
Sunlight, Sunlight in my soul today
Rock of Ages, Amazing Grace
Amen.

I am from Saturday movies
with Dale Evans and Roy Rogers
Skates and bicycles, carefree, feeling the breeze on my face.
I am from the finger my mother used to shame me
And from the arms my father used to carry me
while I pretended to sleep.

I am from the trunk in the attic
full of things long forgotten but can't throw away.
I am from all of my childhood memories.
They shaped me and made me
into the woman I am today.

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