Time for a second look, perhaps.

This is my "I Am From" poem from my sophomore English class in high school. So very true, yet rather impersonal. The words echo off the walls of a mind that prevented it from revealing any more.

If I were to rewrite this now, it would be much different... more thought/emotion oriented, bolder, softer... more of the person instead of the history.
But this is from when we first moved here, and a time when a lot of changes were taking place. No friends, no stability, no confidence. Not even sure of who I was, with only bloodlines and wistful memories to keep me on my feet. This was before it all began.

Universal Child

I am from thick, warm rain in the afternoon sunlight
I am from raging blizzards that slice you through
From sea captains and samurai, artisans and spies,
Sumo wrestlers and vikings

I am from constables and exiles,
Schoolteachers and fishermen
From Scottish poets and Richard’s butler
From stolen pigs, leprechauns, highlands and lochs

East is East and West is West,
And in me the twain has met
I am from stir-fries and pot roasts, sake and mashed potatoes
From mad rushing throngs and frogs singing to the moon

I am from idol makers and do unto others
From the divine wisdom of God and his prophets
And the human wisdom of Confucion sages,
Stand up straight and bow to your teacher

From buffalo herds and the trail of tears
From uncontrolled laughter and heart-wrenching pain
From wooden clogs and straw sandals
And soldiers’ boots you could see your face in

I am from barbarians and aristocrats
From dry old spinsters and love at first sight
From palace guards and Midwest farmers
From Au contraire and C'est la vie

I am from Henry Huggins and Jupiter Jones,
From Sydney Carton and Lucie Manette
From Fox in Socks and Hamlet of Denmark,
James Herriot and Elizabeth George Speare

I am from Pachelbel, Bach, and Simon and Garfunkel
From make-up and wigs and velveteen curtains
From Da Vinci and Rembrandt and Calvin and Hobbes
From charcoal sketches and Canon in D

Of multiple strands, so fragile, so strong

I am of the seven seas and the four winds of the earth