Sunday, November 21, 2010

Where I Am From

I am from sand between painted red toes,
Talented toes.
I am from the smell of lobster bait and seaweed, corn on the cob for supper,
And the drip of just-picked strawberries,
Sun-warmed and juicy.
I am from mailman and secretary,
Harry and Betty.
I am from big band brass,
The slide trombone.
I am from Garside's peppermint stick ice cream
sticky and melty,
Catholic
Protestant,
Physical lives separated, divided by beliefs.
Black and white.
Happy or sad.
I am from Red Sox Nation and the Celtic Green,
I am from culinary, the well-read, the traveled,
The opinionated and the privately weak.
The strong, the proud,
The silent, the grateful,
The loved and cherished.
That's where I am from.

Barbara Keene (2010) Draft

5 comments:

  1. I commented! Where'd my comment go?

    This is powerful! A brilliant way to have middle school-high school kids explore a definition of themselves.

    Brilliant. Wow.

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  2. What is fun....is that it is ever changing. I did this a number of years ago.....it was different. Fun, huh? I hope others give it a try.

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  3. Very fun! I am inspired...in my journal first, though. :)

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  4. It's so sense filled! With the music, the foods, the pictures painted are so vivid! I feel as if I know you even better now. :-)

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  5. Love it!

    Hope we can all get together even after class is done. Maybe at the place in Ellsworth Linda suggested?

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