2024/Theodore-

I am from the Rocky Mountains,

From the state of snow and the cave of winds.

I am from the Garden of the Gods under the shade of Pikes Peak.

In-N-Out, Chick-Fil-A, it tasted like America’s best.

I am from the dry state, with very little rain

the land of my friends

Whose wonderful personalities I remember

as if they were my own.

I’m from Old Dominion and Jamestown,

from the Blue Ridge music and the green forests.

I’m from the moist summers and the country music,

from the parks by my house and the Potomac River!

I’m from the Algonkian school

with a principal who cared

and ten activities I can do myself

I’m from my first and second grade teachers,

my friends and their homes.

From the purple sunsets lost

to the night that

used to keep my wondering

Under my bed was a hodge-podge of random things

spilling out onto my floor,

a wave of trash

to drift beneath my dreams

I am from those moments-

of seeing dandelions before I went to school in the morning

of snowflakes fallen from the sky.