This poem is a riff off of another poem by George Ella Lyons.  As a teacher I would use the lesson the author provided and help students create “I am From” poems, which were always beautiful.  I never took the initiative to write one myself… I would model lines here and there, but was always too busy with writing conference to take it to publication.  I have been longing to write one, so here goes!  Following this poem is a link to the lesson and original poem.

I Am From


I am from sunny summers,

Barefoot bike rides,

With pants rolled up.

And I am from forever fields,

Taller than me,

Laying there 

In that grass - 
the air still and heavy.

The sun warm and sleepy. 

The sounds of birds

And insects 
-
Always the sound of insects,

The thick swarming of mosquitoes.

Always mosquitoes.


I am from the side

Of a pond, cat-tails dance,

Fingers in the water.

A frog's call enticing us,

Urging us, 
"Catch Me."

And I am from the skip of a stone.

The surface of the water 

Glassy and dancing with

Flecks of golden sunlight,

Broken now and rippling.


I am from late night games

Of kick-the-can, 

And neighborhood kids 

Who scatter and run,

In Land of the Midnight Sun.

We were from "Crack the Whip,"

Lines that snake and curl. 

And I am from forts,

Secret forts,

Built by the sides of those ponds,

In the dark part of the woods.


I am from long summer days

Spent feral,

A wild thing,

We were all wild things. 

Until, one by one,

Mother's stood in doorways

And called.

George Ella Lyon: Where I am From poem and lesson