Where I'm From

 

 

I am from cheese biscuits, from sweet tea and fried okra.

I am from the yellow house in the country and the brick one uptown.

I am from the snow white cotton fields, magnolias that reach sky high and the shimmering sea.

I am from eating fried chicken on Huntington Beach and shooting fireworks on Chrismas Eve.

I am from brown hair and brown eyes with tan skin, from Watson and Beasley and McLendon. .

I am from the gardeners and hunters and the hardheads.

I am from eating wooden doughnuts, stray cat parades and Princess Rachel bedtime stories.

From turning into pumpkins at midnight and lizardman lore.

I am from Baptist potlucks and Sunday School.

From meat and threes. From half a hots. From boiled peanuts and low country boil.

I’m from the Seminoles and the Scottish, red foxes and red devils.

I am from blackeye peas, fat back and nanner pudding.

From the house that was hit by fireworks, endless knock knock jokes and the grandmother who calls her granddaughter Lasagna.

I am from the little city with the big heart, the land of smiling faces and beautiful places, the school of hard work pays off and the mantra, “I think I can , I think I can, I think I can.”

 

 

*Inspired by a Mama Kat prompt.