Where I'm From

After George Ella Lyon and with thanks to Sherman Alexie for the opening line

I am from fried bologna with four little cuts so it will lie flat in the pan
I am from sandspurs in my bare feet
I am from Louisville, Kentucky, where my father carried me
on his shoulders
to a rowboat in the flood
I am from Apex, North Carolina, where Mr. Pearson caught me
and my cousins throwing dirt clods at each other
all over his just-planted cornfield
and I was the only one who didn’t run away
I am from Pendleton, North Carolina, where I chopped cotton and peanuts
in the summer on Mr. Joe Horne’s farm
and squirmed in his wife Ann’s
Sunday School class each Sunday
I am from Moore County, North Carolina, where Billy Dunlap and I raced
down the fire road side by side and jumped over a black snake
in unison without missing a stride
where we dammed up the creek to make a swimming hole
where they couldn’t find us one night when the church service
started because we were walking among the tombstones
talking with our heads bowed like two little old men
I am from vinyl records & eight-tracks & cassettes & AM/FM radio & CDs
& mp3 & I-tunes & Pandora, and I’ve listened to
“My Generation” on each one
I am from Momma pinching me in church to shush me
and my sisters tattling on me and
sharing a room with my little brother
who is now a big-time corporate ex-eck-you-tive and
I cherish any time I get to spend with him
I am from Baptists don’t dance, but we can still tap our feet