Where I am From Poetry

This week we will be working on Where I am From Poems.

What is a Where I am From Poem?

Where I am from poetry is exactly what it sounds like, a poem about where you come from. This poetry form was created by George Ella Lyon. Here is a reading of her original I am From Poem (Go to 0:50): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdnHl_yW1dQ

How do we Write a Where I am From Poem?

1) Brainstorm ideas of places, things, smells, foods, people, and quotes which remind you of home.

2) Look at the template provided and place your brainstormed ideas into the blank spaces.

3) Write out a good copy of your Where I am From poem on a separate piece of paper.

Where I am From Examples:

Example 1:

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.

By George Ella Lyon

Example 2:

I am from family dinners every night,

No grace needed just each other.

I am from climbing trees and scrapped knees,

and being the brawn to my brother’s brains.

I am from late nights and early mornings at the rink,

From turning fencing and windows into victims of stray pucks.

I am from “put down the book week”

And a Harry Potter addiction that I can quit at any time…I swear.

I am from tough love and warm embraces,

From “you don’t have to like it, but you have to try it.”

I am from generations of clever women who didn’t take any crap,

but loved deeper and laughed louder than anyone else.

I am from a family who spoiled me,

But also taught me responsibility.

I am from loud voices and chaos,

Yet quiet corners reading books.

Where I am from tolerate means love,

And insults are compliments.

Where I am from my family are friends,

And my friends are family.

By Ms. Gronnemose