I Am From
[Revision 2]

Iowa sharecroppers, eyes rimed
Black with barren earth, faces
Weathered like fence posts
By whiskey and want

Kentucky coal cast and cured
Inside the mantle of the earth
Festering in my fathers’ lungs
Like invisible slug pearls

Two unlikely lovers meeting
In a bright church hall
Living in a shuttered house
Leaving each other in the dark

I am from wanderlust and war
Mekong Delta and Tonkin Gulf
Aircraft armed with Tomahawks
Cluster bombs and Napalm

Shipping in and shipping out
Unread letters and telegrams,
Barbecues with WestPac Widows
Strange men on the back patio

Armageddon of separation and divorce
Uproot and run from trouble
Keep in step with the family dance
Sweep it under the rug

Courtrooms and counselors
Welfare checks and a million moves
Hand-me-down jeans, second-hand shoes
Stay inside to avoid prying eyes

Eternal soap operas, baby sitters
Canned fruit and powdered milk
TV dinners and Wonder Bread
Tupperware and paper plates

Ether of family secrets
Held in orbit like satellites
By gravity of silence
Indenture to denial