Name:__________________________________________________ Date:________________________ Period:______

WHERE IM FROM POEM STARTER TEMPLATE

I am from _____________________________________________ (specific ordinary item), from
_________________________________________(product name) and _________________________________.

I am from ___________________________________________________________________________________ (home

description).

I am from the __________________________________________________ (plant, flower, natural item),

the ____________________________________________________________(plant, flower, natural item).

I am from _______________________________________________________ (family tradition) and

______________________________________________(family trait), from______________________________ (family
member)
who_________________________________________________________________________________________(description/si
mile/metaphor for this person). From ____________________________________________(another family name)
and _______________________________________________(another family name).

I am from ___________________________________________________________________________(description of family

tendency or tradition) and _____________________________________________________________ (family habit
good or bad.)

From ______________________________________________________________________(something you were told as a

child) and __________________________________________________(something you were told as a child).

I am from _______________________________________________(representation of religion/spirituality or lack

thereof).

I am from ___________________________________________________________(place of birth or ancestry), where

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________(des
cription of this place.) From _________________________________________ (food that represents your family)and
________________________________________________(another food.)

From the ____________________________________________________________________________________(specific

family story)
________________________________________________________________________________________(another story
about a person with details).

I am from _____________________________________________________(object or mementos that represent cultural

or family worth) __________________________________________________(another object), and
_____________________________________________________.

Where Im From Poem

Student Objective: You will be writing an original poem in which you explore your roots. This
poem is an opportunity for you to express yourselfto find a way to represent your identity
through memories, snapshots, fragments, and figurative language. Your poem will be worth one
major grade and should be between 16 and 20 lines and should demonstrate all of the
following:

An exploration of identity (childhood, memory, heritage, family, culture, etc.)

Contain imagery (appeals to each of the five senses)
Demonstrate use of 2-3 figurative devices (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, symbol,
personification, etc.)
Should be 16-20 lines

*The Where Im From is a poem by Georgia Ella Lyon. You may choose to use the poem template based
on her poem as your foundation for the first draft, or you may write an original poem in the form of your
choice. However, your poem should relate to and reflect your roots.

Where Im From by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush,
the Dutch elm
whose long gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.
Im from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
Im from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons,
from perk up and pipe down.
Im from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball
lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
Im from Artemus and Billies Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.

I am from those moments

snapped before I budded
leaf-fall from the family tree