I Am From...

I AM FROM…

I am from where the hills meet the plains

Plain Janes and mud stains

On the torn knees

Of loose-fitting blue jeans,

Only girls wear ‘em tight.

Bumps in the road

Making old American-made trucks

Bounce to and fro,

Toads and wet sprockets croaking

In the semi-damp dry twilight.

Schoolyard fights that meant nothing

Bullying making man-boys more “masculine”

If the skin ain’t scuffed,

Then I ain’t using it right.

I come from love, lasting forever

Four walls and a roof consistently,

From tornado country to

Lands where volcanoes live.

Student of the privileged class,

Studying what my whiteness implies.

Shaken awake -- second wind coming

In the middle of the night.