I am From

I am from 7th Ave West

Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, WA

The Pacific Northwest

Rainy days ¾ of the year full

Occasional sledding days down cobblestone streets

Or walking barefoot across burning asphalt

Just to see if we could

I am from homemade dresses

On Christmas and Easter

Holiday parties filled with noise echoing

In our five bedroom, four story house

And the loud distant laughter of mother

Always breaking the monotonous background

I am from and island small

With sweet smelling grass along the road

Mixed with rose hips, wild rose and snow-berries

From gathering treasures of the salty shores of Fisherman’s Bay

Playing house with my sister with them

From hot cocoa by the fire with audio The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

I am from salty blue waters and my small tan body

Covered in sand like a hot dog in the sugar

Sunsets and hours in the pool playing mermaids

 I am from all of these places high and low, hot and cold,

Warming and chilling, belonging and solitary, open and closed.