Down Poetry Road

Where I'm From

I am from a land of sun and summer storms;

From leaping out the pool as the thunder rolled and the rain began.

I am from a ground of red clay,

And bright smiles made of teeth framed by the same colour.

I am from lush heat that became hay-like grass,

From change - the salt that became chlorine, to rivers and the sea. 

I am from Not me!, and Thula wena lullabies,

From loving eyes and gentle smiles.

I am from pastels, projectors, pencils, and paints;

From books under the cover in the middle of the night.

I am from a sad, little, lonely Kowhai tree;

Planted small, it has become a giant over time.

From loss, I treasure the precious memories that remain. 

I am from scraped knees and silly mistakes

To butterfly kisses on my cheeks,

From playground accidents and lost teeth.

I'm from jelly beans at the doctor, and

From little cotton wool creatures,

Swinging from the rearview mirror on flossing tape.

I'm from plasters, bandages, casts and slings,

From Methylated spirits and rusty drums of damp autumn leaves. 

I am from these irreplaceable moments,

And from big dreams.

From my friends, and from my family.

I am from my past, captured both in my heart

And through videos and snapshot photographs -

Tiny pixels in the collage that

Builds the person I am

And who I am yet to be.

~Based on George Ellen Lyon's work by the same name.~