'Where I'm From': A Crowdsourced Poem That Collects Your ... - NPR

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NPR asked for your poems inspired by memories of home. What we received was overwhelming: 1,400 submissions in just two days, with lines that draw on all five senses — in vivid detail and gauzy memories.

In our callout, NPR resident poet Kwame Alexander and Morning Edition host Rachel Martin looked to one poem in particular: "Where I'm From" by Appalachian poet George Ella Lyon. Lyon herself responded to our callout and left something in our submission inbox:

"I was amazed and delighted to hear you read part of 'Where I'm From' on Morning Edition Monday. My poem, written in 1993, was inspired by a poem of Jo Carson's. Her poem took off from something she heard somebody say," she said. "So 'Where I'm From' has been a pass-it-on-phenomenon from the get-go. Here's to the power of poetry and place, and to the voices in all of us that long to be heard."

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Hear George Ella Lyon read her poem "From The Page"

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As Kentucky's poet laureate in 2015, Lyon collected "Where I'm From" poems from people around the world. Here are some of yours:

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I am from travelers and adventurefrom "Be seen, not heard!"from ritual and plainsongfrom England and exilefrom mint sauce and lamb.

I am from casseroles and canned tunaKennedys and Saturday morning cartoonsI am from Tang in a Daffy Duck glassfrom wall phones with mangled cords stretched during private calls in a room too far I come from popcorn ceilingsdining rooms of glossy mahogany

I am from bed sheets Draped over our dining room chairs.from the trees Littering the backyardThe sweet taste of mulberries Staining my fingers redI'm from big hats under rainbow umbrellasBuckets of wet sand and unstable castlesI'm from orange and vanilla custardwith a pizza slice the size of your chestFrom hot July days and cool summer nightsI am from Sunday night pizza and Monday Night Football

I am from marblesFrom empanadas cooking in the streetI am from orchids and mango treesI am from la torta tres leches and ruanaI am from happy and seriousFrom hard work and sweat

I'm from grit, respect, and discipline.from big family reunions and endless laughs.I am from houses never lockedfrom the projects in Brooklynand dominoes in the parkI am from salsa and the car horns blaring

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I am from diners and malls and accents that put an "aw" in coffee.from silky lingerie and sweat socks, bruised knuckles and scars I gave myselffrom longing to be someone, somewhere else.I am from a mother who was still a girl;whose beauty kept her shyI am from dirt and fencesfrom strength and toughness

I am from ashes flicked into the traythe despair of divorcebonds gone unappreciatedeviction and being thrown awayrunning and begging to stayI am from a little girl who just needed a break

I am from a time when my mother went to the hospital and never came back;when my toys were in a box by the curb as we drove away.I am from singing in the darkness of nightPutting myself to sleep with the sound of my own voice.

I am from playing backyard baseball with tennis balls, Wiffle balls, even roundish gourds.from weekend sleep-oversfrom orange push-upsfrom fallen leaves kicked up in swirls on walks to school,from early morning radio announcements of a snow day — no school!

I am from the South and the North.from immigrant grandparents and Civil War soldiers.I am from the red dirt clay of VirginiaFrom the sounds of the fiddle to the beauty of a choirFrom the jig and the reelto the cloggers and the dancers.From collard greens and fat back,chitterlings and white breadI'm from hymns learned on Sundays,hypocrisy displayed on Mondays.

I am from Tom Pettyand baby oil in the hot sunrye bread and salami.I am from black cows,tacos, bicycles, andThe gentle lure of crickets.

I am from James Brown and Santana.from Groovin' on a Sunday Afternoonand Crystal Blue Persuasion.

I am from endless steps,from California and Texas, and Durango, Colorado.From unknown ancestors of the ancient Southwest,cliff-dwellers and puebloans.I am from the earth --from from cityscapes and sleepy suburbsfrom cicada clicks and firefly sparksfrom the call of books and breathing through struggles.I am from you

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and you are from meWe are love

We are homeWe are from this day forward.