Friday, September 21, 2018

Poetry Friday is Here! - Where I'm From


Hey ya'll, welcome newcomers and vets alike to Poetry Friday. I wanted to post earlier to accommodate all time zones since I'm based in Australia, but alas. I'm happy to have you here and to be hosting for the first time since I started this blog about 5 months ago. I wasn't sure what this space was going to be used for (maybe I still don't), but I've been happy to at least be able to contribute to a bit of weekly poetry. 

For this week's offering, I thought it apt to try a 'Where I'm From' poem after seeing a few around in recent weeks. I've been living in Australia for just over 6 years now, in Israel for 3 but spent most of my life in the ol' Midwest. I found the pre-write an interesting exercise. Not everything ends up going into the poem but I was hesitant even jotting certain things down. Anyway, here's the rough outcome of my initial brainstorm.

Where I'm From 

I'm from faces black and brown
from corner stores and city beats
northside homes and 
concrete streets.

I'm from festivals and fireworks
from lakeshore views and museum wings
I'm from road trips to grandma's
Christmas feels and winter sleet.

I'm from an urban home and suburban school
dichotomies with being cool
from parents going separate ways 
from stacks of books and imaginative play.

I'm from rose-covered thresholds
from buttered biscuits and collard greens
different tastes and eccentricities
from Jeff Buckley - yes, and Prince 
(both artists whom I miss).

Memories inside of me
old journals
old drawings 
old dreams 

© e. mauger

Say hi in the comments below and add your offering to the poetry potluck. Have a great weekend!


20 comments:

  1. Thanks for hosting Ellie. As a fellow Aussie I could very much connect with your Where I'm From.

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  2. These are my favorite lines...
    Memories inside of me
    old journals
    old drawings
    old dreams

    We share that place...even if they are different. Well done!
    And, thank you for hosting. It's so much fun and I learned so much when I hosted. Enjoy every moment.

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  3. Thanks so much for hosting this week. I hope you enjoy it and I admire you for jumping right in! It took me ages to sign up! I also enjoyed your "Where I'm From" poem, and like Linda, I really like the universality of your ending lines.

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  4. I love reading these Where I'm From poems. I love the ending...I can definitely relate (and it looks like I'm not alone). Thanks for hosting today!

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  5. Hi Erin! Thanks for sharing your dichotomies and eccentricities! I could use a buttered biscuit right about now. Thanks also for hosting :-)

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    1. Indeed - eccentricities, dichotomies, and imagination is something with which many of us we can identify, no matter where we're from! Thanks for hosting, Erin - glad you have joined the PF family. Today is an unusual day for me, as I'm sharing a post from 2 days ago about the 1-year birthday of my book, "Flashlight Night," which started off as a poem!

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  6. Hi Eric - thanks so much for hosting! congratulations on 5 months of blogging, too... we are so glad to have you join us! I, too, am from parents going separate ways, so that line got me. Also Prince! That was the first concert I went to, and I admired his be-your-own-self-ness. Also: purple. :) Happy Poetry Friday!

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  7. Thanks for hosting today, Erin! And what better way to introduce yourself than with a Where I'm From poem. "Dichotomies with being cool" especially struck a chord with me. I'll get my Where I'm From poem written one of these days!

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  8. So nice to visit your blog and meet you through your delightful poem, Erin. Especially like the rose-covered thresholds and buttered biscuits! :) Thanks for hosting this week.

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  9. Thanks for hosting, Erin, and welcome! You packed so much into your poem and there is much to connect to. I had one grandmother whose biscuits I'm still searching for, and I love "from stacks of books and imaginative play". I am a reader!

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  10. Hi Erin, thanks for hosting! I don't have a poem up this week, but just stopping by to check in with poetry friends. I love your Where I'm From poem. "Museum wings" was especially evocative for me, and I adore

    I'm from rose-covered thresholds
    from buttered biscuits and collard greens

    Happy Poetry Friday!

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  11. Rich rousing call to all our poetry peeps with your syncopated "Where I'm From" poem Erin!from "Jeff Buckley - yes, and Prince" I miss them too, love Hallelujah! Perhaps our minds were on similar wave lakes somewhere in the stratosphere for this week I have a "I Am From" poem also. Thanks for hosting!

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  12. Thank you for hosting! Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to everyone around the world!

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  13. I really enjoyed this poem! It inspired me to play my Prince list on Spotify while I'm writing today.

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  14. Such a rich life in so many different places. Your collard greens and biscuits took me back to my great grandmother's kitchen. This morning on NPR I heard a new release of Prince on piano, a new perspective of him as an artist. Thanks for hosting.

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  15. O fun pond hop, e. m a u g e r.
    Appreciations for this lyrical "I'm From."
    You had me at "festivals and fireworks"
    & I loved the tour of the other lines.

    Glad you are today's host.

    I'm lagging with my Sept. 21, 2018 post but
    figure it will be good to go in the coming hours
    at Bookseedstudio
    https://www.bookseedstudio.wordpess.com
    & I expect to return here & add my
    link box.

    Weekend wonder to all.

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  16. Thanks for hosting and sharing your "Where I'm From" poem. So glad to meet another poetry lover from down under!

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  17. Thank you for hosting this week, Erin. Reading your poem, I feel as if I know you...you fill it with so many different and so very specific images. Just lovely. I want to try one of these. It is fun to think about how each line could begin a new poem of its own. Happy week ahead down under! Peace. xx

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  18. Erin, I like the beat you established in your poem, Erin. Thank you for hosting and giving us a broader perspective of your life. Having grown up in Central New York, these lines resonated with me: I'm from road trips to grandma's
    Christmas feels and winter sleet.
    I have not submitted a poetry entry this week YET because I have been "on the road". I'm in Florida ready to present at the National Center for Families Learning Conference but the first neck of this trip is visiting my longtime friends who moved here from NY. Hopefully, I will have my summer gallery of artistic expressions up and ready soon. It is hard to think fall when in Florida.

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    1. No worries, Carol. Thanks for stopping by again. Hope your presentation/meet up goes well. Since I just did a trial of Inlinkz the collection closes in a few days but feel free to leave a link in the comments as well if that's the case :)

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