Where I’m From

I am from Couch from candles and spoons I am from the plants in the corner (brilliant greens and fresh air) I am from the cacti The large standing oak Whose long gone limbs I remember As if they where my own

I am from blue elephants and chocolate eyes Alfonzo and Miriam I am from being too loud and biting my lip and stealing fuzzy socks

I am from please take a nap and eat your vegetables from el chorrito I am from making brownies I am from Austin and Latin America and pernil and tamales from a really close car wreck my father’s car stuck under an eighteen wheeler a photo of me and my mother on the beach, one of my father and I at the lake on the TV stand I am from the gigantic couch that has more than enough room for my family of three, but we all squish in the middle anyway. I am from the quite rumble of thunder, my pajama pants getting damp as I sit on the balcony listening to the quite rain.