Every week or two, I’ll be sharing a little peek into my writer’s journal.

Poems or short stories.
From high school or yesterday.
Deeply personal or generic.
Familiar or new.

I’d like to kick off with an oldie I wrote early in our marriage, inspired by George Ella Lyon’s poem. I wrote this as part of a Writer’s Workshop I led for my students. (Follow this template to create your own!)

I Am From…

by Sarah Steele
September 2007

I am from Cheerios
from bunk beds and Dad’s big chair
I am from the grand hotel three miles west of town
(No longer with old grey cedar shakes
losing their paint)
I am from Gramma’s forget-me-nots,
The backyard maple
whose long gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own

I’m from sauerkraut and big noses
from the Biggers of the Hutch Bunch
I’m from the Nuh Uhs!
and the That’s What I Saids,
from treasure trash hunting
and full-length barn swinging
and fourth of Julys spent with family, food, contests, and friends

I’m from Sarah Sassapoo and Tri-Sarah-Tops
And Onward, Christian Soldiers
I’m from singing on family vacations
I am from Rota, Spain and Hungary
Hot applesauce and dumplings
From Papa’s endless story-telling
and Gramma’s “Herbie da Beaver”

I am from photo albums and family pictures that show
how much we’ve grown
in the basement,
on the wall,
and in my heart.

So. Where are YOU from?

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