I am from....

 

I Am From…

 

I am from pendulum clocks,

from Kool-Aid and linoleum

I am from the finished basement,

deep, musty, a refuge on hot nights

I am from the Chinese Maple,

made of glass in ice storms,

that dripped like soup in sunlight

I’m from brown station wagons and bowling alley birthdays,

backyard orchards and cellar pantries

I’m from “God doesn’t see you, you’re not baptized”

to “I’ll find God on my own”

From Leon and Everett

I’m from addictive personalities and infidelity

From “we can do this the easy way or the hard way”

I’m from The Old Line state, Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsch)

Sweet corn and Old Bay

From my jock father turned hippie,

from my babysitter since 2 weeks old

In the books under sheaths of plastic, sit paused memories

At once a comfort and a scar

-- Katee Myers

There's a Part of Me.

There's a part of me-

tugging at my hem and pushing at my knees; dragging down my fingers.

It looks up at me with desperate,

hurt(full) eyes.

It's hard to hear a word between tearful chokes and whimpering gasps.

Oh, little part of me!

Swallow down your sobs.

You cry of desire-

a demise you know little about.

You have the tongue of a child;

the pain of an illusion. 

"Desire my form! Desire my form!"

You plead for pacification.

Who taught you bottomless pits and sacrificial offerings?

The world is not your battleground. 

   -- Katee Myers

lesson plan

  The knot in the string
is easy to unravel
     but our eyes won't see

   our palaces rise
think they're better than flowers
   but they're dead inside

 turn my glance downward
       I see something that's not there
   pebbles look like worlds

      sometimes i forget that i
have the power to save and to teach
       surrounded by noise and
    small minded assholes
who mock a poet and praise
          a thief..

  the kids come to us as
  magnificent butterflies and tiny dragons
       the rulers want us to turn them all
 into ants and frightened mice

          I am starting to learn from
 the little ones
          and stand on my hind legs
                to grab what's ours.