I'm From...

I'm from the sea,
The Latin root
A renamed child
Inspiration from a half-Greek sci-fi actress.

I'm from Disney-themed clothes,
Disney toys, Disney dishes.
The animals were my favorites
Since all my Barbies ended up dismembered.
(I couldn't stand their perfect bodies,
perfect faces, perfect hair.)

I'm from a canopy bed
where my imaginary friends
threw imaginary parties
on a soft trampoline of white fabric above my head.
While they napped
I played a biblical version of Steppenwolf's
"Magic Carpet Ride"
where I saved all my stuffed animals
from impending doom
by rescuing them with a lasso.
When that didn't work
(it never did)
I just carried them and placed them in their rightful spots.
With an atlas we plotted our trip
Antarctica to Australia to Alaska.

I'm from one of the happiest places on Earth
where I compared my long hair to Princess Jasmine's.
I was terrified to ride Splash Mountain
I was terrified of everything
the noises, the lights, the people.
I'd never been happier to go home.

I'm from a constantly changing house
Down goes the deck, up comes
a glass sunroom, looking up at the cottonwood trees
I watched the summer wind bring us
their downy snow in July.

I'm from scooter races in the cul-de-sac,
covering our bodies with colorful chalk
Dancing to scare off the neighborhood witch
Who died of a stroke years later.
I'm from sun-warmed asphalt
that burned my bare feet
in the summer.
The air conditioner was a godsend.

I'm from a closet under the stairs
Star-patterned wallpaper and tan carpet,
just enough space for a curled-up teen.
I made my own night sky
with a bottle of glow-in-the-dark fabric paint
dotted across the angled ceiling.
Pictures of two green fairies on the wall
One of them absinthe.

I'm from my own world of scarlet pain
using whatever I could
to tally my sorrows in scratches across my arm.
from downcast eyes
oversized clothes to hide myself as far from others as I could.

I'm from ropes camp,
the constant rustling of leaves outside the cabins.
bugs in the lights, bugs on the floor.
Late-night conversations hushed again and again
by irritable counselors.
The sky so dark, velvet blue
with crystalline stars sparkling
too many to count.
The dancing, the singing,
the tears from surprising emotion.
Rope burns, bark scratches,
all for the thrill of leaping from daring heights
and trusting your team to catch you.

I'm from broken hearts and reparations
sharing unbelievable new things
with unbelievable new people
watching swirling patterns in front of my eyes
feeling the intensity that I'd never noticed before.

I'm from a series of explorations.
Deep, dark secrets best unearthed.
Learning that my life philosophy
is taken from a musical.
"there's only us, there's only this
forget regret, or life is yours to miss.
No other road, no other way,
no day but today."
Sharing my perspective
seeing into someone else's thoughts
taking opportunities when they arise
discovering the hidden beauty in the monotonous routine.

I'm from this little blue-green planet
a nearly irrelevant speck in the galaxy.

I'm from this country
under new management
dying economy, threatening messages
wrapped so tightly in our money blanket
we can't feel the breath of our world
whispering for help.

I'm from this state
Green, green, green.
Beavers and ducks
Coastline and desert
huddled in our valley
we watch the rain fall.

I'm from this town
Too big to know everyone, too small to be anonymous.
where houses appear like they've been pressed from a mold.

I'm from this house
creaking floorboards
intermittent heat
two four-legged animals in the house,
three two-legged ones outside.
A piano shares a room with a computer
and an rocking couch with scratchy upholstery.
New couches in an old room,
new electronics against old walls.

I'm from this room
six by eighteen by six.
A closet, unheated.
an electric blanket is my only warmth.
Pictures line the walls
friends' faces over my pillow
illuminated by the single bare bulb near the ceiling.
a mattress on the floor
a cushion on the floor
clothes on the floor.
A cardboard box for a nightstand.
Never completely clean.
My sanctuary.

I'm from a world of turmoil
yet a world of beauty
a world of happiness within misery.
Claw your way through this disguise
and you'll find me hiding inside.