Happy July! I am excited to announce that my poem “I Am From!” was voted Publication of the Month for June at Spillwords Press!!! 🎉
I am so excited to receive this award and recognition! Thank you to Dagmara K. and her team for providing a welcoming literary site for authors to share their emotions through words. It is truly an honor to be a part of the Spillwords Press community!
I offer my deepest gratitude to YOU for your ongoing support and vote, and for initially visiting Spillwords to read my poem, “https://spillwords.com/i-am-from/!”I am also humbled that my version of George Ella Lyon’s “Where I’m From” resonated with so many. And I’m grateful to Lori and Vicki for providing the writing inspiration. Please visit their beautiful blogs if you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them yet. They are amazingand talented women, whom I call friends in this warm community!
Reflections
“I Am From” is displayed on the sidebar at Spillwords.com for the month of July if you’d like to take a peek!
A little more mush, thanks again from the bottom of my heart! And I wish you a happy and peaceful month of July! ❤️
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m focusing on my book to honor Copper, our senior puppy who received angel wings in March, while also trying to visit you. This has been my mindset for the week, but I’m pulling my hair out because of glitches. Third time’s a charm, they say, and Life is NOT about throwing in the towel!
Anyway, one of the posts I had the pleasure of visiting was Vicki’s, and it truly intrigued me. Please pop over to her lovely sight for inspiration and enlightenment: https://victoriaponders.com/2025/04/28/echoes/. She was originally inspired by Lori’s post: https://loripohlmanwriter.com/2025/04/25/polished-maple-tables/in which I also visited, feeling the same rush of inspiration. They both spotlighted the following poem and the concept of writing our own version:
Where I’m From By George Ella Lyon
I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush, the Dutch elm whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own. I am from fudge and eyeglasses, from Imogene and Alafair. I’m from the know-it -alls and the pass -it -ons, from perk up and pipe down. I’m from He restoreth my soul with cottonball lamb and ten verses I can say myself. I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch, fried corn and strong coffee. From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger the eye my father shut to keep his sight. Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures. a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams. I am from those moments — snapped before I budded — leaf-fall from the family tree
To read more information and for helpful tools in writing your poem, please visit Vicki and Lori’s wonderful posts. And now, I offer you my version. I didn’t use Lori’s template, but I ran with the concept. Thoughts appeared one after the other, so mine is a bit lengthy, but I don’t feel like cutting anything out just yet. Subtle rhymes also slid their way in, and I’m unsure if they were supposed to. Nonetheless…
I am from
I am from my mom’s emotions that had a mind of their own so wild at times emulating a summer storm I am from my dad’s humor where smiles bloomed but his temper too in my less patient moods
I am from flower petals I did not plant Mom’s were nurtured – my thumbs weren’t green yet the petals’ beauty is always seen I am from butter, sugar (granulated and brown), vanilla, baking powder and soda, and nuts, yes, sometimes this is the case, and chocolate chips in their tantalizing ways
I am from the moon in her mystery The sun in his radiance The lake in its serenity
I am from the well-liked and the shunned the self-doubt lodged on my shoulders the redwoods standing tall I am from planned and spontaneity clarity and ambiguity
I am from the Big Bear cabin on the corner from laps and splashes in Orange County pools I am from “When you have children, you’ll understand” I am from two sanctuaries for finding God to discovering faith near mountains and sand
I am from me unique, quirky, strong, kind, a used-to-be people-pleaser the third of three daughters I am from knowledge still pouring in like a flood of surging waters I am from gratitude for every little blessing from those I love, from being loved I am.
Baydreamer Writes ~ Lauren Scott, Author 