I AM FROM...

This comes from my friend Roxanne's blog: http://rwl10802.blogspot.com/2006/04/i-am-from.html

I am from a cool deep well, I am Perrier and Evian.
I am from fertile soil where corn and strawberries thrive
and cows produce fresh milk
I am from mighty oak and strong maple
That splash the sky with gold and crimson

on an Indian Summer day
I am from trillium and poison ivy
that equally hide behind ageing pine.

I am from “Hockey Night In Canada” and squared jaws,
From McEachern and Stewarts.
From comfort in hugging a worn cotton dress
and gatherings where food was always the best.
I’m from jokesters and dancers and storytellers of life.
I’m from plumbers and entrepreneurs and blue-collar men.
I am from plain folk who taught me the value of a friend.

I am from Sunday dinners and gentle souls
From East to Salisbury
From English tradition carried across a big sea
And from sailors who fought so that I might be free.
I am from staunch Presbyterian and excommunicated Catholics
And yet seek to my spirit to know who I am.
In my closet sit the books of historical record
Pictures of grandmas and grandpas
Who’ve long since been gone.

Of mother and father, sisters and brothers.

Of cousins a plenty who played in innocent splendor.
Of a husband and a great love that we shared.
Of a son and a mother left behind,
Who will make their own traditions to pass down in time.