I am from cat hair
from cartoons in books and on TV.
I am from Little Tikes basketball hoop pickup games
grass shedding under our feet
screams of joy ricocheting around the block.
I am from creaking hardwood floors,
black and white tiles,
the back yard that acted like my own personal
park, botanical garden and zoo.
I am from The Beatles and sad eyes,
from Daniel and Heinz.
I am from thinking before speaking,
the advertising department,
from the devotedly undevout.
I’m from She’s Leaving Home
with a layover in the Caymans
and loses undeserved by any.
I’m from Monika and Charles,
Helvetica and toy soldiers.
From the childhood my grandfather gave up
so his sister could afford one
the second lives my parents chose.
Our holiday dinners seat two
but I do not feel alone.
I feel the cool walls
and hear the fridge hum
and I know that I am home
surrounded by family
despite the oceans and decades
that dislocate us.
In order to use Lyon’s poem as a mentor text, I first read it multiple times. Then I dissected it and asked myself what the author was saying, as well as what rhetorical strategies were they using, in each and every line. In the first paragraph say, I noted the use of recognizable names/ terms, description, as well as a simile enveloped in another description. Doing this also helped me to understand the different ways in which Lyon described where they were “from”. The first paragraph describes their home, the second and beginning of the third their family, and the end an analogy of all of this combining into the family tree. I used this as best as I could as a general template for my own memories of where I come from.
Hi Nick,
ReplyDeleteThose last few lines really struck a chord with me, when you said "I know that I am home surrounded by family despite the oceans and decades that dislocate us." As a reader with family overseas, it made me think about seeing all of them together. In the history of my father's family, all of his 8 siblings including him have only been together under the same roof on one occasion in 2003. My mother's family is all over the world as well. The rest of your poem was great too, I liked some of the references to the Beatles and a layover in the Caymans. It made your poem really authentic. Great Job Nick.
Hey Nick,
ReplyDeleteI thought your poem was great over all I really could imagine what your childhood life was like based on all the descriptions you gave on the first section. The way you went about using the mentor text is something I will adapt in the future writing. The way you identified the different strategies and dissected the meaning of what the author was saying is impressive. I went at it a different way but I think your method would be more beneficial for me to begin doing. The end result was your poem that gave me a real sense of what it may have been growing up in your shoes.