Writing poetry has never been even a remote goal of mine, but recently I was asked to contribute a poem online, and instead of stating the truth—that I have NEVER written a poem—I decided to give it a go. A friend told me a while back that one of my blog posts "felt like French Impressionist poetry" and after I stopped laughing at the ridiculousness of that... I considered I might be entirely out of touch with the younger generation. French Impressionist poetry?! Kids will love it at the sock hop. Even so, I took the obscure compliment and went back to my Everyone Has An Origin Story to rework it for my first attempt at what I will loosely, irresponsibly call poetry.

The Poem
by Jennifer Harrison

I am from a white brick mansion in the city
surrounded by magnolia trees,
tadpoles, and lions carved into the wall.
Yet I am also from a tiny shack in the country
with creaky floors
and the stink of poverty.

I am from servants and slaves,
beauty queens, teachers, and farmers,
women before their time
and men who died too young.
I am from great wealth, white privilege,
and the eviction notice at the door.

I am defiance and manners,
hope and conviction,
love and despair.

I am from a musician
and the murder suicide,
Scottish poetry
and the Civil War bride.
I am from French rebel outcasts,
the house of bees.

I am from good girls and femme fatales,
from men both gentle and heartless.
I am from champagne,
homemade Bloody Marys,
Delta music,
and endless parades.

From a diversion off the traveled road
with no chance of returning.

I am from fancy dinner parties,
and kept appearances
drowning in rules of etiquette.
I am from the religion of men
and the submissive wife,
upholstered walls,
and celebrities in the halls.
I am from the queen of Volunteers,
and her king whose titles she took.
I am from tragedy
and desolate suburban ideals.

I am from extravagance and thrift
madness and responsibility
adventures and isolation.
I am from relentless honesty
and acute individualism.
Most directly, I am from her
from the best and worst parts of her
from one of a kind.

I am from dynastic remarkability
and hillbilly irrelevance.

#TrueStory https://twitter.com/webmistressJH