I am from

I am from picture frames,

From Pine-sol and air freshener, 

I am from the small house on the left,

Where everyone is welcome. 

I am from the soil,

The oak tree,

Whose long gone limbs I remember 

As if they were my own. 

I'm from homemade banana bread and blue eyes,

From Dawn and Jeffrey.

I'm from smart-alecks, quick thinkers,

And hard workers. 

I'm from "No" and "You can be anything you want to be."

And "This Little Light of Mine".

I'm from Robbinsdale and the Czech Republic,

Southwestern sloppy joes and pickle roll ups,

From counterfeiters,

Who were caught and jailed for five years. 

From military flags sitting on bookshelves, 

And my great-great-great grandmothers clock, stored away on the basement brick work. 

Poem

Background: Growing up, my mom experienced a lot of abuse from her father. Physical, mental and emotional. He was very controlling and angry and would walk out all the time. When my mom was 22, she married my father. Let's just say he was not any better of a man than my grandfather was. They had three kids together, but that only made their marriage more strained and eventually, it fell apart.

Before:

The Endless Game

I used to be,

So broken,

So fearful,

So isolated.

I felt as though I was sinking,

So much deeper,

So much lower, 

So much faster each day.

Everything I did as a wife,

Was wrong to him,

Was never good enough, 

Was never enough,

He wanted more.

When he would lie,

It was as transparent as glass.

The sadness his unfaithfulness and abuse brought me,

Engulfed me, pulling me under,

Twisting, 

Turning,

Spinning me around.

I left broken

After: 

A New Beginning  

I am strong now,

I stand on my own,

I got myself together

And created a life for my family.

I have three amazing kids,

Who shine as bright as the sun.

My love for them

Is as strong as Hercules.

I have a house

That I pay for on my own.

I have a job

That allows me to put food on the table

Years ago, 

I thought I needed him,

To live,

To feel loved,

To be worth something

I realized that I don't

I am strong now 

Reflection; 

In my poem, I used personification (the sadness...), simile (is as strong as Hercules... as transparent as glass...), allusion (same as the simile for Hercules) and repetition. I thought I did an okay job on this, it's definitely something I could improve on because it has been years since I have written poetry, I used to do it every day. I feel like I needed a little more time and help on writing this, I feel like it isn't as strong as it should be and I'm disappointed with myself. 

Poem

Background: Growing up, my mom endured a lot of abuse from her father. Anything you can think of, she probably went through it. When she was 22, she married my dad. He was very controlling, angry, abusive and neglecting at times. You could say she got out of a bad situation and into another..


Before:
I used to be
So broken,
So fearful,
So isolated

I felt as though I was sinking,
So much deeper,
So much lower,
So much further down

Everything I did as a wife
Was wrong to him,
Was never good enough,
Was never enough,
He wanted more

When he would lie,
It was as transparent as glass.
The sadness his lies and abuse brought me,
Ran deeper than an ocean

I left broken


After:
I am strong now,
I stand on my own,
I got myself together
And created a life for my family

I have three amazing kids,
Who shine as bright as the sun
My love for them
Is as strong as Hercules

I have a house
That I pay for on my own
I have a job
That allows me to put food on the table

Years ago,
I thought I needed him
To live,
To feel loved,
But I don't

Because I am strong now