I am California

Brown arms and wide feet

barefoot on this rusty earth

my mother's family bent over before I was born

picking cotton or cutting grapes in the sun

from Salinas to Fresno

my Abuelito added a room, a bathroom, a palm tree that stills stands

in the yard next to the Virgin Mary

Brown eyes like my dad's

squinting in the glare of the dusty windshield

my dad's family house in the mountains

where he herded cattle and build barns

from Bakersfield to North Fork

my grandpa added a room, a bathroom, a fireplace of collected river rocks

a birdfeeder in the yard.

My daughter's brown hair

shining amber on the afternoon porch

strong legs and wide feet support her

California dust under her fingernails, in her lungs

from Reedley to Kingsburg

long drives in the country to show her the land, tell her names of flowers

reciting them like spells handed down

pointing out the window at the landscape falling behind us