Where I'm From

Where I’m From #44 By Lynn Shattuck Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from rainforest And no road out From sharp mountaintops and silver water I am from Nowell Avenue, where my entire universe once lived: Godparents, aunt, uncle and cousins, best friend and babysitters I am from sliding glass back doors, always open Seven-Up and Triscuits And slivers of summer I am from strong women: Pilot, poet,...

Where I’m From #43 By Heather Frese Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from cedar closets, From Sun-In and orange Cheeto dust. I am from the covered bridge in the park, paintworn, children rolling in the green grass underneath. I am from the honeysuckle wafting along the rail trail whose goldensweet tendrils I remember as if they were my own. I am from Sunday morning tennis matches, holding service...

Where I’m From #42 By Melissa Meloro Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from books, From Italian Ice, brown, low-pile carpet, and a big stack of records I am from the downstairs room where I keep a bucket of toys, including an old cast from my arm, smelly and covered in faded 2nd grade signatures. I am from the warm, never-bending rule of Family First And original performances created with a dozen...

Where I'm From #41 By Katie Colt Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from FM radio, from the backseat of a Buick  and the piano bench. I am from the cement patio  outside the sliding glass door. (Gray, cool to the touch,  a playground for ants). I am from the tomato plants the cicadas whose swelling songs  still serenade me on July evenings. I’m from diet soda pop and coupons, from Miriam and John....

Where I'm From #40 By Eileen Drennen Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from books shelved floor-to-ceiling, reading for hours  and making notes in the margins.  From crunchy buttered hard rolls and good Jewish rye, Tea with cream and sugar and jugs of Gallo wine. I’m from the three-story Victorian bought for a song,  From Lemon Pledge and orange Formica, Stained glass laughter and door-slammed tea...

Where I'm From #39 By Kassie J. Runyan Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from a child’s dream Formed of stars and sheep I am from yesterday’s home Always changing, painting patterns on the wall, And smelling like lavender I am from the dirt in the ground As it runs through my fingers And I imagine what it will grow I am from music being sung in every room From the lips of my mother and father I am...

Where I’m From #38 By Kim Rowe Inspired by George Ella Lyon I’m from window air conditioners, from Happy Meals and Rainbow Brite. I’m from the hills in every direction. (Verdant, rolling, a compromise between the jutting, coal-rich Appalachias to the Southwest and the horizontal, swampy farmland of Jersey to the Northeast.) I’m from the peonie bush the persimmon tree whose fruit I loved because I...

Where I’m From #37 By Nisha Mody Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from hair oil, from Amla and coconut. I am from the carpet beneath my mom’s bed where I sat as my mom applied it on my hair. (oatmeal colored, burbur, unforgiving) I am from the bouganvillea magenta, my mom’s dream flower, also known as the paper flower which I just learned is edible. I'm from snacky dinners and anxiety, from Nalin...

Where I’m From #36 By Tria Wen Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from VHS tapes spooling to snow over time. From Joni Mitchell’s Greatest Hits, and vinyl from 1966, black as the soil in my parents’ garden. I am from the ocean of my mother’s imagination: a sea that is the sky, a sky that is the sea, air savory with the salts of our next meal — a wakeup from a dream. I am from seeds scattered genera...

Where I’m From #35 By Ronit Plank Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from a scratchy sofa striped in five different shades of brown and hotel towels we brought home in our suitcases From Raid roach spray, Aquanet, canned creamed corn, and bringing Dad coffee in the mornings: two teaspoons Folgers, two teaspoons sugar, a splash of cream I am from bigger than the first apartment, darker and dirtier c...

Where I’m From #35 By Ronit Plank Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from a scratchy sofa striped in five different shades of brown and hotel towels we brought home in our suitcases From Raid roach spray, Aquanet, canned creamed corn, and bringing Dad coffee in the mornings: two teaspoons Folgers, two teaspoons sugar, a splash of cream I am from bigger than the first apartment, darker and dirtier c...

Where I’m From #34 By Lina Lau Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from homemade things Pizza and dresses and playdough in every colour I am from the house before the bend, Small, red-brick, blooming lilacs in spring I am from a towering maple Swung in its arms, covered in leaf piles, burnt orange and brilliant I am from snow forts and blanket forts Summer road trips across the border Sand in our ba...

Where I’m From #33 By Jeannine Ouellette Inspired by George Ella Lyon Fine Woven I am from overflowing ashtrays, from store-brand cereal and late payments. I am from steep wooden stairs (rickety, paint flaking, slats of sunlight nourishing the chickweed). I am from the ancient volcanic rock, the clear, rolling creeks, both tumbling incessantly toward Lake Superior, whose cold waters and ocean-size...

Where I’m From #32  By Meera Vijayann Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from the pages of old journals, From Bona and black ink,  I am from wooden floors filled with toys and baby clothes, (Lemony, fragrant, I can’t quite explain why this is). I am from jasmines, pine trees, sweet leaves that hold morning dew, I am from Diwali dinners and unbridled Joy, From Maloo and Mccombe,   I’m from the kind...

Where I'm From #31 By Christina Mauro Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from the 70's, From hot Folgers coffee and Lipton’s sweet iced tea. I am from the house of Garcia with its family photos and the smell of leather saddles and fresh tortillas, Resilient, tender, the laughter of men sharing their stories while sitting at the kitchen table. I am from bluebonnets and mesquite trees as far as the e...

Where I'm From #30 By Lisa Rizzo Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from the back seats of rusty old cars, from Crisco and Jell-O. I am from a lawn stretching to farm fields behind (bee-laden and humid, smelling of wind and black loam) I am from the promise of wild rose and lilac offering sweetness after snow-laden winter. I’m from watching family home movies. Our bodies flickered across the screen...

Where I’m From #29 By Rosanna Staffa Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from a blue Atala bike From Borotalco Roberts and Coty powder #21 the whiff of candy they left in the bathroom I’m from watching a snowfall from window to window Old newspapers piled on a chair and a piano. I am from yellow tramways and small squares with dripping fountains Sidewalks smelling pungent, after a Spring rainfall, s...

Where I’m From #28 By  Jody Ohlsen Collins Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from doughboy pools and homemade Barbie houses from Huffy bikes and Helms Bakery donuts. I am from three sisters to a room and broad green bermuda lawns. I am from bright sandy beaches and weeping willows whose drooping green sheltered me from California’s sun. I am from Coppertone and Sun-In from Helen and Wes and John....

Where I'm From #27 By Maureen C. Berry Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from buttercream yellow kitchen walls, From a General Electric avocado green stove and The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I am from the tiger lilies pushing up against the chain-linked fence. (Orange, erect, between patches of urine-soaked lawn from the dogs.) I am from the Rose of Sharon The neighbor’s elm Whose limbs stole acr...

Where I’m From #26 by Tonya Todd Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from books and cats and baseball bats, from Mother’s Milk and Banner Batteries. I am from the swimming pool in the back yard. (Deep, shimmering eyes stinging like chlorinated dreams.) I am from Oleander bushes, their poison-laced leaves bright and fragrant as rose petals. I am from Christmas cookies and big teeth, from Butterflies...

Where I’m From #25 By Michelle Yang Inspired by George Ella Lyon   I am from sweet potato noodles from Shin Ramyun, jajangmyeon, and barley tea. From the apartment atop a Korean bathhouse (boisterous, chained, with bees buzzing between bristly bricks.)   I am from the forbidden mango my Po-po sneaks me, the pulpy fibers cling between my baby teeth. I’m from incensed family shrines and stocky, 6-fo...

Where I’m From #24 by Buick Audra Inspired by George Ella Lyon I’m from things I didn’t get to choose Like mango groves and Southern roots The latter of which, I found out by looking online I’m from water ballet in Pelican Lake My cousin Er was other long legs Our grandmother couldn’t quite see us, so we danced for her ears I’m from many church basements in the suburbs of Boston Small Styrofoam cu...

Where I'm From #23 By Gia Ruiz Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from layaways From generic cola and heartburn causing picante chips I am from 9 homes in 17 years, on military bases, in the middle of pineapple fields, next to undetonated bombs. I am from plantains, brown and bruised, then fried, and smashed at just the right time. I’m from my mom’s lived ghost stories and curly hair and loudest la...

Where I’m From #22 By Fox Henry Frazier Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from Susquehanna and Chenango riverbanks, from rock salt and backyard timber rattlesnakes. I am from a house with beautiful hearthstones— smooth, grey, smelling faintly of rain— and another house, scented with lavender and hibiscus and gunpowder. I am from ivy and holly and This berry probably won’t kill me if I only take th...

Where I Am From #21 By Maxine Lipner Inspired by George Ella Lyon I am from sharing black and white cookies with my older sister at the neighborhood bakery, where the woman behind the counter knew my mother from way back when From beads of lemon pledge on wood grain, hard-earned from a printer turned copy editor’s wages and from the used, slightly dented, silver blue Chrysler that took us on motel...