Where I’m From #12

By Stacy Mendell

Inspired by George Ella Lyon

I am from the purple banana seat bike,

from slip-on Keds and double knit dresses,

from Piggly Wiggly and S&H Green Stamps.

I am from the 3rd house down on Redbud Drive,

the one with two pine trees shading the drive way,

(Collected as saplings, tended in coffee cans,

eternally scented with Folgers).

I am from the plump stand of Pampas grass in the back corner of the yard,

soft, fluffy fronds we slipped behind for Hide and Seek,

potted petunias and pansies on the back porch

and families of snails and rolly-polys that hid beneath them.

I am from hamburgers on Saturday nights,

and road trips with Hank Williams and Tom T. Hall,

from Dovie Sue and Ruth Claiborne,

I’m from the casserole bringers and hardest workers,

from “Well I’ll be!” and “Isn’t that something!”

I’m from Vacation Bible School

And He Walks with Me and He Talks with Me

I’m from West Texas peanut farmers and East Texas oil fields,

Iced tea, crackers and milk, and Weight Watchers.

From Grandpa’s Volkswagen Beetle that jumped fences

and a Great (times four) Grandmother who once shook hands with Davy Crockett, and later,

moved 5 children and 11 horses 24 miles to a new home when she left her husband.

A folded yellowed envelope holds letters from Great Uncle Edward that tell the story

of a peanut farmer who left his family and his love to die a medic in France

in the biggest battle of World War II,

a leather-bound album tells other stories (in photos and clippings),

that link the strong, far-reaching limbs of our family tree.

I am from stories and photos and myths of people I never met

and I know as well as the color of my father’s eyes,

the words to I’m so lonesome I could cry.

Where to find Alyson:

Website: https://www.alysonshelton.com

Substack: https://whereimfrom.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byalysonshelton/