Where I'm From

I come from a place where kids line the cinderblock walls,

afraid to step on the lava in the center

because the carpet delineates

the safe from the dangerous.

I come from a place where imagination brews,

starting with my teacher's cauldron

and ending with my mother

teaching me her stew.

I come from a place where you choose

who you want to be,

look at those around you like choices,

and pick the crowd to be.

I come from a place where nothing is definite,

where the most certain of things

can crumble with the onslaught

of a new storm.

I come from a place where authorities are wrong,

but nobody gives a second look,

for he is this and he is that

as if it could excuse his example.

I come from a difficult place,

but not one that is impossible,

for if you do the right thing, always,

you will be who you want to become.
5

You might also like…

Poetry

How Time Works

Haley Swanson

After my father toured what would become our neighborhood in Fairfax, California, he knocked on the nearest door and asked the man who answered if it was nice living there.

That man told me this ... [+]

Poetry
Poetry