i am from poem

I recently read an article about teaching poetry through the lens of the immigrant experience. It can be empowering and powerful for students as well as adults. I decided to write an "I Am From" poem about myself. Take some time this week to write one about yourself. Perhaps your entire family can write "I Am From" poems during the weekend and designate a time to share them with each other as a group? I hope you enjoy my poem and are inspired to write your own! Don't forget that April is National Poetry Month! 

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                                                                             I Am From

I am from Robert and Carrie, Arkansas and Alabama
From “always do your best” and “play to win”
From my brother’s 5 Speed Schwinn bike with a banana seat and ram horn handlebars
I am from the last house on the south side of the street with a gas light on a well manicured front lawn

I am from the Lone Ranger and Spider-Man, Three Stooges and Benny Hill, The Jeffersons and Good Times, Ultra-Man and The Justice League
From Saturday morning cartoons and Cap’n Crunch with Berries
From homemade biscuits, fish and spaghetti, and my grandmother’s homemade apple jelly

I am from playing football in the street and “Cork” in the alley off of Abner Place everyday during the summer. That was our Busch Stadium!
I am from backyard barbeques and Wiffle Ball (if you hit it over the house, it was an automatic Grand Slam!)
From riding bikes all day and playing Hide & Go Seek at dusk

From youth football practice at Penrose Park (Kill the Man with the Ball before practice!), track practice at Northwest High School, track meets at Flo Valley College and the Junior Olympics in Poplar Bluff
I am from toll roads at Natural Bridge & Kingshighway and Natural Bridge & Union

I am from Lexington Elementary School and the Public School Stadium
From the Pie House “Fill Up” burgers and the chop suey joint on the corner of Union & Lexington
From Pla-Mor Roller Rink and Normandy Lanes Bowling Alley

I am from fireworks competitions with neighbors on the 4th of July
From sweltering summer heat and humidity
From St. Louis, “Gateway to the West” and Greer Avenue in North St. Louis
​From my mother graduating from Homer G. Phillips Nursing School and her sister finishing her PhD at the age of 66
I am from the Midwest

I keep these memories close
Savoring their warmth as I recall each of them
Very fond memories of a special time in my life
I am home