Where are you from?
Beryl and I would love to share some snippets of where you are from during our Ingathering service on September 13. What things, places, smells, words, images, and memories make you who you are? Write your own “Where I’m From” poem or just jot down a few words–short is fine! Send your creations to beryldre@follen.org and minister@follen.org by September 10 and we’ll weave together parts of them into a word tapestry of community for our first service of the new church year!
“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.
I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments–
snapped before I budded —
leaf-fall from the family tree.
“Where I’m From” by Rev. Claire
Here is what I wrote and shared with you seven years ago, on my first Ingathering Sunday at Follen!
I’m from the chalice and the principles,
the menorah and the Christmas tree.
I’m from latkes and blue crabs,
casseroles and Hershey bar pie.
I’m from Ellis Island and compromises.
I’m from the valedictorians and the math class dropouts.
I’m from two left feet and four eyes.
I’m from loud laughter and quick opinions.
I’m from cartooocns and library books
I’m from the weeping willow and the cheery azalea.
I’m from Mom Marge
and Grandpa Leon
And now my Marjory and Leona are from me.
“I am from those moments–
leaf-fall from the family tree.