i come from

a busman on a holiday, blasting Coltrane and Roger Plant to cover the wounds of his past

i come from

a woman on the verge of a groundbreaking discovery who moves as the world shakes

i come from 

a state divided by partisan politics placing fetuses before those who have lost jobs and homes

i come from

the city that watched as their river burned, the fourth crime capital of the great lakes region

i come from

a house based on wrights and the wrongs of a marriage, doomed to end before sundown

i come from

the schoolyard bully’s geer’s of “queer” and “fag” and “fatty”

i come from

the woman from ireland, fleeing the sod to hide a family’s crippling secret.

i come from

the man from ireland, hoping that jumping ship will help jump start a new life.

i come from

the past, haunting the house of my mind, imprinting dark thoughts on bright times.

i come from

a mother’s desire, a father’s wish, and the hope that a family is more than a marriage contract and a birth certificate. 

i come from 

myself: who i was, who i am, and who i will be.