Where I'm From

 

Where I’m From #51

by Myriam Steinberg 

Inspired by George Ella Lyon

I am from books

From Frog and Toad, and frogs on a log

I am from behind the curtain of the darkening room

(orange and purple skies, book on sill, heart beating “will I get caught”)

I am from lilacs and wisteria 

Jutting and dripping, bookending the garden

I’m from le hadlik ner shel shabbat and big noses 

From Danny and Claudine

I’m from the silence and the power

From “He’s at another meeting” and “Mange ta salade” 

I’m from braiding tallis fringes (enthralled), shofar blowing, cantor singing

I’m from water and mountains, shtetles and bright lights,

Challah, black coffee and cigarettes

From the migrains, broken hips, faulty heart, never stops going

My grandmother’s “say please and thank you” distribution of mandelbroit and raisin oatmeal cookies

Birth green and gooey remembered in old binders, 
photos of my babyhood in a box of Pampers, baby the size of the dog’s head,
toddler licking ice cream with much delight

I am from these moments, my world through my mother’s eyes

Where to find Myriam:

Website: https://www.cataloguebabynovel.com/

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

Where to find Alyson:

Website: https://www.alysonshelton.com

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

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