I Am From Poem

I Am From

I am from hand tied family quilts with wool batts from my grandparents' sheep
from sermon notes and Bibles and shelves of books.
I am from the orderly quiet disturbed by ticking clocks
and the smell of home-made food cooking for hours in an oven.
I am from the flowering orchards in the Hood River Valley near the grand Columbia River.
The old oak trees standing tall, burned long ago, whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.

I'm from a heritage of faith and hymns hummed or played.
from quiet, reserved Doris and outgoing, personable Alton
I'm from breakfast with dad and my parent's prayers
and from family dinners with homemade pie.

I'm from try again and you can do it and what a friend we have in Jesus.
I'm from holidays spent with exciting older cousins.

I'm from Olympia, Washington and the Oregon Wallowas
smothered fried chicken and apple pie.

From a family of two, we grew to a family of four.
Dad's silent clocks now hang on our walls.
Now we are a family of three.