2024/Erick-

I am from farmlands,

From the smell of manure and tall trees.

I am from the dark days under the sky.

Pizza, pasta, it tasted like a delicacy.

I am from the land of Christmas markets,

The amazing mountains,

Whose homes remember

As if they were my own.

I’m from the smell of stink bugs and burger places,

From the stormy nights and Fun Run races.

I’m from the country of spaghetti and the skiing resorts,

from the Land Near the Sea and Land of the Free!

I’m from the hot sunny days

with a ton of beaches

and ten swimming styles I can do myself.

I’m from cool nights and the smell of plants,

Orange and purple sunsets and clouds lost to the sunrise.

From the beautiful scenery

lost to the cicada noises outside my house,

used to keep me awake all night.

Under my bed was a bucket,

Spilling purple paint,

A reminder of my life

To drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments -

Of happiness before I PCS-

Like a dandelion attached to the military.