Where I’m From

I am from an alchemy of

water, snow and ice

I am from

Amethyst, divergent fish and violets

I am from Fordham gneiss, Inwood marble and Manhattan schist

I am from

The German Jew

The Dominican neighbor

The Black nanny

The Greek shopkeeper

The Italian pizzeria

I am from eavesdropped Yiddish

curses on houses and kisses on keppes

I am from soundtracks of Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar

played in mustard colored living rooms on reel to reel tape decks

I am

holding my grandmother’s hand and

I am

whispering goodbye

I am from

a widowed young father

and a confused baby brother

I am

residual memories

no photographs on nightstands

no recipes in kitchen drawers

I am from

haunts of mother’s past

I am

a shadow sister for my aunt

I am from a

once woman

I am a handful of rocks

I am from

a thousand yahrzeit candles

I am from

a childhood paused.