Aug
2018
Poetry Friday: Where I’m From
One of my favorite writing lessons from back when I was still teaching was introducing students to George Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From” poem and then getting to know my students by reading theirs. Then I would collect a line from each student and create a collaborative Where I’m From poem for each class–both written and video.
After reading about George Ella Lyon’s Where I’m From project from Heidi and Tabatha (and their Where’ I’m From poems, too), I wanted to dig out my poem and share it, too. In doing so, I realized that while I had shared it with multiple classes of students, I’ve never shared it on my blog (at least not that I could find). Here it is. If you would like to create and share your own art (poetry and more is welcome) to be gathered and presented in Washington, DC, later this year in October, check out the project’s website and Facebook page. I would love to learn more about where you are from.
A Place of My Own
I’m from
fields of tobacco,
laid out in yellow–green rows of four
under the sweltering summer sun,
collecting pine cones and picking blueberries
two hours from the beach.
I’m from slapping cards around the kitchen table
for side my side games of solitaire
and endless rounds of rummy,
paddling out to stump city
in a wood canoe,
shucking corn on the Fourth of July
before the fireworks rain,
going to Grandma’s on Labor Day.
I’m from
visits to the library,
leaving with the books stacked higher than my head,
early summer mornings
racing barefoot to the swings,
grass clippings clinging to my feet.
I’m from the land of
moon pies, Bill’s Barbecue,
corn pudding, homemade ice cream,
eating shrimp and oysters by the peck,
spooning sugared cereal
out of recycled margarine tubs
before watching Saturday morning cartoons,
pretending Superman was my brother.
I’m from
the perch nestled in the top of the pine tree
overseeing The Place,
and you wanted your place, too.
Now I have a different place
of my own
to call home.
Each Friday, I am excited to take part in Poetry Friday, where writers share their love of all things poetry. Robyn Hood Black hosts the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Life on the Deckle Edge She celebrates spiders with the publication of a spider poem and shares more from GREAT MORNING. Hurry over and check out all the poetry morsels offered up today.
Michelle Kogan
September 3, 2018 at 11:27 pm (6 years ago)Wonderful “I’m from” poem Kay! Reminds me of Carl Sandburg and his poems on his beloved Illinois prairie. I liked these lines too:
“visits to the library,
leaving with the books stacked higher than my head,”
Thanks to for the links–I’m looking forward to writing one of these, I wrote one this summer that was similar in content but didn’t use the “I’m from” within it.
Mrs. McGriff
September 4, 2018 at 7:37 am (6 years ago)Thanks, Michelle. I look forward to reading your I’m From poem. I enjoy learning about people through them. I still need to send my in for the project, too.
Carol Varsalona
September 2, 2018 at 10:27 pm (6 years ago)Kay, your Where I’m From is filled with so many details that are not part of my background yet so inviting. I can relate to the Saturday morning cartoons but could not place where you grew up. I knew it could not have been Indiana. This is so well done. Although I have introduced George Ella Lyons’ poem to groups of teachers, I have never created. Like Linda, I would like to try.
Mrs. McGriff
September 3, 2018 at 6:39 am (6 years ago)Thanks, Carol. I hope you do try writing one. I think I could write a different one now.
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes
September 2, 2018 at 5:34 pm (6 years ago)I’m so glad you shared this, Kay! I can never get enough Where I’m From poems—they are the best kind of autobiography. Thanks for the delicious peek into your childhood.
Mrs. McGriff
September 3, 2018 at 6:38 am (6 years ago)Thanks, Michelle. I’m with you. I can’t get enough of reading these from others.
Brenda
September 2, 2018 at 10:16 am (6 years ago)Your poem brought NC back so vividly. The cicadas droning until the car door slams, and the sudden silence is disorienting. As a navy brat with a complicated childhood, I’ve never believed I would create as coherent a narrative. Yet, I love reading the ones of others.
Mrs. McGriff
September 2, 2018 at 4:02 pm (6 years ago)Thank you Brenda. Having never traveled very far as a child, I was always envious of those who lived all over the world. Some of my students created some very cool poems from lives lived in many places.
Tabatha
September 2, 2018 at 4:15 am (6 years ago)Your poem made me hungry! I also have very fond memories of homemade ice cream (and I’ll bet Bill makes delicious bbq).
I love the detail of grass clippings sticking to your feet.
I feel like I’m right there with you for this whole poem! Great job, Kay.
Mrs. McGriff
September 2, 2018 at 8:45 am (6 years ago)Thanks, Tabatha. What is it about food that brings back so many memories? There is nothing like Eastern NC barbecue–you can’t find it anywhere else.
Ruth (thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com)
September 1, 2018 at 11:06 am (6 years ago)Thanks for sharing your WIF poem, as I call them in my lesson plans – I’m doing that with my seventh graders this next week! It’s an assignment I always enjoy so much.
Mrs. McGriff
September 2, 2018 at 8:44 am (6 years ago)Have fun writing WIF poems with your students. It was always one of my favorite assignments.
Erin
September 1, 2018 at 9:24 am (6 years ago)I’m digging reading the different ‘Where I’m from’ poems. Tempted to write my own, it makes for an interesting way to reflect on our places of origin.
Mrs. McGriff
September 1, 2018 at 10:37 am (6 years ago)Thanks, Erin! Have fun writing your own Where I’m From poem. They are a good way to reflect on our places of origin.
Linda
August 31, 2018 at 7:25 pm (6 years ago)Kay this is a stunning poem. So descriptive of place! It must be a Carolina? I’m wanting to write one—but these are so good I’m a bit intimidated. I’m going to think on this idea and write one soon
Mrs. McGriff
September 1, 2018 at 7:44 am (6 years ago)Thank you, Linda. Yes, it is a Carolina–North Carolina. Don’t be intimidated. These Where I’m From poems are such fun to write.
Linda Baie
August 31, 2018 at 4:12 pm (6 years ago)I can write some of your lines, Kay, that top of the pine tree, me, too. These poems are always fun to read about someone. And, I love the way you ended it.
Mrs. McGriff
September 1, 2018 at 7:43 am (6 years ago)I agree, I love reading these poems by different people And thank you for your words on the ending. I find endings so hard to write and struggled a lot with this one.
Robyn Hood Black
August 31, 2018 at 12:03 pm (6 years ago)Wow, Kay – so many memories this kicks up for me, too! I have always loved “Where I’m From” poems. They inspire amazing writing, from students and adults alike. Thanks for sharing yours!
Mrs. McGriff
August 31, 2018 at 1:18 pm (6 years ago)Thanks, Robyn. I loved bringing back the memories as I was writing–and each time I reread it. I’ve lived in the Midwest a long time, but I’ll always be a little bit Southern–from NC.