I Am From

A student in one of my sociology courses wrote a beautiful I Am From poem.   She agreed to allow me to post it here.

Kettisa Culbertson Wrote:

"The poem by George Ella Lyon, forces you to dig deep and really appreciate your perspective on who you are.  It makes you laugh and evokes some feelings that you may not have thought of in years.  I wanted to take a different direction on what I consider to be where I am from."

I am from place and a space
that you all come from
You have resided here
maybe during a different year
but believe me you were there

It was not the hood or the burbs
but at some point, I rode my bike on concrete curbs
It was not a farm producing fresh greens
but it was my residence and it provided all my means

I lived in this place and space all alone
while I was there I was safe to roam
small, and intimate, clean and noise free
no windows, no mirrors for me to see

I had the luxury of a private pool
bathing in the warmth of the water was cool
I did not know when I left this place to swim elsewhere
that when I wanted to swim with others, they did not want me there

That place and space that I am from
That place and space that we all come from
That place is our tomb
That we lovingly lived in called our Mother's Womb