I am from…..

Your host: PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST

Recently I came across a fellow blogger’s post, wherein she created her own version of the trending “I Am” poem template. You’ll find more of her lovely posts at The Spectacled Bean.

The basic poem is Adapted by Levi Romero Inspired by “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon.

Here’s mine…

I am from books from museum shops, thrift stores and left over from the library

I am from coffee from Aldi and afghan throws knitted by my mother

I am from a duplex surrounded by an arbor of pine trees

A house filled with so many plants, that I typically forget to water one or two

I am from the brilliant yellow forsythia and creamy pink magnolias

That bloomed in the spring around my childhood home

Whose long-gone blossoms I remember as if they were my own

I’m from Lithuanian sausage and potato pancakes from Grandma Martha and Aunt Elvira — Now it’s up to my mom to make them

I’m from years-long arguments and shutting each other out from my aunts

Sister

And others

I’m from “finish what’s on your plate” and “you’ll never be a dancer“

And singing Sloop John B to my dad’s banjo

I’m from Thanksgiving dinners around a long rectangular table in family basements

I’m from Roseland Community Hospital and Chicago and cakes from “Jewel’s“

I’m from learning one of my aunts died from ovarian cancer before I ever came along

She had four children and had to leave three of them with her parents after her death

The fourth child — who moved away with her father — we finally found after years of searching

I’m from spending summers at Indiana Dunes national lakeshore

From trick-or-treating in hand-sewn Halloween costumes, courtesy of Mom

I’m from dusty hat boxes filled with mementos – under my bed, in my closet, in my heart

I come across funny poems, haikus and musings from my daughter… written when she was 11 years old

At now at 29 years of age, she refuses to let me post them here

By: H. Van Howe / Date: November 2023

Now it’s your turn. Go ahead and create your own poems.

Distribute before the holidays and let your guests read their own at the dinner table.

Share with your book club buddies and host an “I Am” party.

Trade essays with your dearest friend and read aloud to each other over a glass of wine.

Or a Diet Pepsi. Whatever works for you.

Here’s your link: I AM

Let’s hear your versions. I’m sure they will all be A+.

Thank you for reading — PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST