Literacy Autobiography – eDay Two
Using George Ella Lyon’s poem, Where I’m From, as a mentor text, write your own Where I’m
From poem. Think about your familial roots, your childhood home, poignant memories and early
reading/writing experiences. Who and what contributed to making you the unique individual you
are today? Your poem should be a minimum of 15 lines.
Where I'm From
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'm 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 a 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.
-
George Ella Lyon
I am from...
I am from _______________________________________________________(an everyday item in your home)
from and ________________________________________________________(products or everyday items in
your home)
I am from the _________________________________________________(description of your home)
(a detail about your home—a smell, taste, or feel)
I am from the _______________________________________(plant, flower, natural item)
The _____________________________________________(plant or tree near your home)
whose long gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.
I’m from and ___________________________________________(a family tradition and family trait)
from and ___________________________________________(family members)
I’m from and ____________________________________________(family habits)
and from ______________________________________________ . (a family habit)
I’m from and ___________________________________________________(things you were told as a child)
and ____________________________________________________(a song or saying you learned as a child)
I’m from _____________________________________ (a family tradition)
I’m from _________________________________(place of birth) and
________________________________________(family ancestry, nationality or place)
and __________________________________________(family foods)
From _______________________________________________ (a story about a family member)
_________________________________________________(detail about the story or person)
_____________________________________________(description of family mementos, pictures or treasures)
_________________________________________________-(location of mementos—under my bed, on the wall,
in my heart) (more description if needed)
As you are a young person, add a final stanza in which you describe where you are going 