Welcome to 2020!
In my continuing effort to share some of my Random Journal Writings with you all, here’s another exercise I did in Write From The Body. It is based on a poem and the prompt, “I am From.”
If we don’t look back at how far we’ve come and what makes us who we are, how can we move forward? Plus, who doesn’t love an origin story? My origin story is so entwined with Santa Barbara. I absolutely could not be who I am without this incredible town that I love.
I Am From
Yvette Keller, December 1, 2019
I am from punchcards
compuguts and cacciatore.
I am from Hendry’s Beach
and Butterfly, and West, and Naked too.
I am from Los Baños
and Figueroa Mountain
and State and
Francheschi.
I am from Cliff and cliffs of uplift
and tiny fossils
broken off
by climbing life science students.
I’m from Mission bells and bird calls
and pepper tree pods crushed underfoot.
From eucalyptus in the air
and bark strips leading to mysterious tree forts.
I am from yelling
and choruses of
“Jesus Loves Me, Yes I Know.”
I am from Father Virgil
And father Ray Bradbury
I am from rose pink ruffled canopy beds
and simple muted blue fleece blankets.
What do you think?