Where I’m From

I'm from a Southern backyard---
Magnolia Grandiflora sporting huge white blooms
Honeysuckles spilling over the fence 
Red roses soaked with the aroma of tea
Hollyhocks springing up yearly into flowering towers.

I'm from a Southern backyard---
Mud pies being made in the shadow of a magnificent pin oak tree
Mint leaves mysteriously exploding with flavor when being chewed curiously
Milk pods' white fluids being tasted without knowing they were poisonous.

I'm from a Southern backyard---
Bedroom window from which we crawled onto a table over a crawl space doghouse
to meet our coon dog Jethro and to play in the light of the moon
Bedroom window from which we each wandered on separate occasions 
out of our yard into moonlit streets until being returned by kind policemen.

I'm from a Southern backyard---
Concrete foundation swirls that frighteningly resemble a gorilla's face
Wooden swing from which we watched mad Mommy fleeing through the gate
Crawl space from which we heard our hound's howls after Daddy's death.

I'm from a Southern backyard---
from which Mommy returned to the mental hospital after the funeral
from which we children went to live with barely known Northern kinfolk 
into which other families came to spend their lives in the bosom of its beauty.