Again, the poems come in threes…each so different from the other.. Each such a story to tell.

Where I’m From

Carter Tanner

I am from Ice Skates,

From Bauer and CCM

I am from the room over the garage.

(Filled with hours of laughs with friends, tears with my mother, and thoughts by myself)

I am from the crape myrtle in the front,

The begonias in the back,

And the christmas cactus dating back to 1993

Representing far more than just a plant.

I am from spaetzles and blonde hair

From Glover, Teague, Tanner, and Holley

I’m from “Give ‘em hell kid”

“Don’t forget”

And “You mustn’t either”

I’m from a small town North Carolina boy

And a courageous German girl

Who held on to her faith when all hope seemed lost.

I’m from the branch of Shelly and Ryan

Sticky wings and party chicken.

From the box my father was pushed down the stairs in,

To the box my grandfather was laid to rest in.

In the cabinet there are rows of photobooks

Documenting my last hundred years.

I am from those moments-

Staring over the frozen hills where the maple trees grow.

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I Am from

By Jesika Shekleton

I am from a childhood with endless imagination,

from cowboys and Indians to Disney and cat-woman.

I am from a loving Christian family who supplies endless hugs and kisses.

I am from a girl who wants to be barefoot in the dirt but needs to be proper.

I am from a girl who needs to follow church rules in order to be successful, she chooses Christian college over Boston art college.

I am from a girl who meets a boy, they fall in love and sail the sea.

I am from a girl who lost her gift of imagination but found it again on her explorations. 

I am from hiking in the mountains and meditation, from a world I did not know existed. 

I am from a large pregnant belly to a baby girl beside me.

I am from a girl who chooses morals and ethics over religion.

I am from a girl who decides to go vegan, knowing the dilemma, it was a great decision.

I am from a loving mother and father expressing they’re supportive, to a mother myself now understanding the motive.

I am from a girl who is back in the dirt, pregnant again and tending to the gardens.

I am from a girl who is back in school excited for her future and botany will be the major. 

I am from a girl who tries to appreciate life to the fullest, no matter what situation.

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I Am From

Dan Whalley

I am from the future that lays before you

I am moulded by the love of my parents

I am from the song of a blackbird

I am from a seed in fertile earth

I am from a warm breeze

I am from plague

I am from famine

I am from war  

I am shaped by the deaths of millions of my evolutionary ancestors

I am born of bacteria’s corruption of purity

I am from the heat of a molten planet’s core

I am from the violent death of a thousand exploding stars

I am from darkness