soy de tortillas y tamales
By Tessa Del Pino
i am from tortillas de harina, tacos de chorizo
y arroz con leche.
i am from the fragrance of september harvest
on a cool crisp night.
i am from apple trees
and tumbleweeds.
i am from posadas, full lips,
Jesus, Kika and Lolo.
i am from Saturday night pachangas
and drunk emotions.
from “pray your rosary” and “family first.”
i am from La Virgen de Guadalupe
and Psalm 23.
i am from this place before it was this country,
tamales y pan loco.
from dancing el guapango, green plaid Catholic school
jumpers and white blouses with peter pan collars,
from Rosemilk and Love’s Babysoft on Grandma’s dresser.
i am from when grandma’s shrine starting a fire and grandpa’s
false tooth made of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum.
i am from snapdragon borders.
two polyester covered albums sit in mom’s living room across
the country
filled with squares of photos of bandanas and work clothes,
wedding days, and graduation caps,
brightly smiling faces from another time and place.
Tessa Del Pino is a Chicana who grew up, and was educated, in the Pacific Northwest and New York City. She is a lawyer by training, executive administrator by profession, and organizer by habit. She and her family live in Nashville, TN.
Writer’s note: I recently took a non-fiction writing course taught by Gloria Ballard in Nashville. On poetry night, Gloria invited Kory Wells for a workshop session, which opened my eyes to the world of poetry. Kory shared a poem she heard at a workshop by George Ella Lyon titled “Where I’m From.” After reading her poem, Lyons coached participants in writing their poem. Kory did the same with our class. This is my interpretation. Lyon’s method for teaching this poem has grown into an international tool for sharing and creating.
Tiki Tiki invites readers to share their “Where I’m From” poem. Send post to info at tikitikiblog punto com.
Un poquito mas:
Tessa, I so love this and it has inspired all sorts of memories for me…made me think about “Where I am from” in short, little lines…
Thank you for sharing this. It is beautiful.
Tessa,
I, too, am inspired. I love your prose.
(This post makes me want to be YOU. *sigh*)
Bello!
Marta
great poetry and like everyone says, inspiring. Sometimes people don’t remember where they came from or even where their ancestry lives.
Great post; well done!
Me gusto la mezcla, Feliz Navidad.
As I’ve told Tessa already, I love her poem – and I especially love hearing her read it. I write more about the experience of teaching this poem and what I’ve learned about claiming my personal heritage as a path to a more artful life in “The Power of Admitting Where You’re From” on the Risk A Day blog at http://www.riskaday.com/risks/the-power-of-admitting-where-youre-from/
Awesome! I’m loving this! Excellent idea for creativity and inspiration.
This was such a fun exercise. Thank you, Kory! Your passion is contagious and inspiring.
Thank you to everyone for the positive feedback.
Very nice. We are all from … someplace nitido.
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