Where I'm From

Where I'm From

Where I'm from comes with a long rich history

Where my grandparents and their grandparents not only lived but survived

The Great Depression that knocked this country to it's knees

And my grandfather never could shake the memories

Of hunger, and loss, and struggle

Where I'm from my grandmother buried her father at 5

She remembered how cold the floors were in their rented room

And why they never needed closets

Because a hook on a wall was sufficient 

Where I'm from I feel the history of the town

I love the lighted trees on Broad Street that now is for relaxation

That was once the center of commerce

Where cotton dust filled the air as it was shipped down stream 

And the Cotton Block is now something where the city has a block party

Where I'm from keeps me connected to my past

And allows me to enjoy the beauty of my future.

In doing my poem I know I stuck mainly to the location aspect of where I am from, but at the same time, I connect deeply to those places.  I mostly connect so deeply because of the history that my family takes up in this town.  If you ever read Rick Bragg then that is the type of story telling I am used to, minus the drunks being in my family, they were cousins and such.  I would have to say I am affirming the story of the South.  I think history is important especially family history.