Where I’m From #34

By Lina Lau

Inspired by George Ella Lyon

I am from homemade things

Pizza and dresses and playdough in every colour

I am from the house before the bend,

Small, red-brick, blooming lilacs in spring

I am from a towering maple

Swung in its arms, covered in leaf piles, burnt orange and brilliant

I am from snow forts and blanket forts

Summer road trips across the border

Sand in our bathing suits

From an immigrant father who left home at 20, never seeing his parents

And an immigrant mother, born the only daughter, born to take care of her parents

I’m from big feelings and high expectations

No apologies and silences

From being a disappointment to being a source of pride

I’m from a god passed down to me, but not passed onto my daughters

I’m from moussaka, skordalia, and a jello ice cream dessert that no one remembers the name of

From my grandmother’s treasure chest

Full of hoarded cash saved over years, found after her death

And from cousins died too tragic, too young.

Volumes of photo albums lined up in my parents’ basement

Dusty and full

Every picture dated and labelled

A family of shared lives

Until the memories will be mine alone.

Where to find Lina:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_linalau_/

Where to find Alyson:

Website: https://www.alysonshelton.com

Substack: https://whereimfrom.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byalysonshelton/