Where I'm From (Based on George Ella Lyon's Poem, "Where I'm From")

Where I'm from (Based on George Ella Lyons' poem)

M.A. Reilly 

I am from blocks

of ivory soap

of ice wedged between milk bottles

in the summer,

from the white gabled home

with its small patched lawn

so solid against sudden storms.

I am from the gnarled Cherry tree,

its pale pink blossoms

translucent

against the wet, black bark.

I’m from tinseled trees and piles of books

from Catherine Mary and Robert Emmett.

I’m from daily piano scales and Bach Inventions

From Pop who played ragtime, all the time.

I’m from “batter up,”

and “I was just passin’ the time of day.”

From Marches on Washington

to “say five Hail Marys.”

Knowing too well the shy comfort of the confessional,

So dark and thick with secrets.

I’m from Stamullen,

tucked tight alongside the Irish Sea.

From late afternoon tea with those

who came back from the war

and those who could not.

I am from all of this

from the limbs that formed

those long afternoons

strong in ways I’ve learned to test.