Where I Am From

I am from an old clothesline, pulled tight between two metal posts
from Kix cereal and Dawn dishsoap.
I am from the home with an old tire swing
(dusty black, swinging lazily).
I am from the pink peonies growing along a picket fence
the forsythia bush
whose long gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.

I’m from family potlucks and homemade ice-cream
from Anna and Teunnis Johannes.
I’m from Halloween trick-or-treating and 4th of July sparklers
and from candlelight Christmas Eve service.

I’m from “clean your room” and “be careful”
and “Over in the Meadow.”
I’m from singing Christmas carols around grandma’s piano.
I’m from Sunnyside and the proud Dutch
potato salad and apple kuchen.
from my daddy, Mark,
and the two-door garage he built with his own hands.
From the cedar chest,
holding boxes of pictures and bibles
old school photos and mementos
and all those things I never want to let go of because
they all show proof of
where I am from.