I'm From New Jersey

I’m from New Jersey
the Turnpike
Garden State Parkway
the Pine Barrens
and Jersey Shore
I’m from Bruce’s state
Asbury Park
Sandy Hook
Ocean City
Across the River
from Philadelphia
West of New York City

I’m from Rollo and Margaret
British India
and Southern Mississippi
tea in the afternoon
and black-eyed peas
for supper
I’m from Homecoming picnics
after church
picnic tables on the edge of the graveyard
fried chicken
and okra
mountains of potato salad
and slabs of cornbread
pasted with butter
I’m from man-made fishing holes
and water snakes
I’m from sticky humid
country walks
dirt roads and dairy farms
Malcolm’s General Store
Coca Cola in glass bottles
redeemed for a dime
and fried catfish

I’m from mystery places
in a different land
banana trees and mango trees
cows walking the streets
too sacred to eat
cobras serenaded out
of baskets
marble temples
built for dead queens
wonders of the world
children begging in the streets
men and women
bartering in the marketplace
women in saris
red dots marking their foreheads

I’m from ancient
I’m from new
I’m from places
wanting independence
I’m from farmers and
ministers
homemakers and teachers
I’m from fundamentalists
and liberals
Baptists and Methodists

I’m from New Jersey
sand in my shoes
the smell of the sea
the crashing of waves
cotton candy melting
on my tongue
reduced to gritty sugar
salt water taffy
and hoagies
splinters in my feet
from the boardwalk
I’m from crowds
of people
six-lane highways
mulit-ethnic populations
at rest stops
the hum of various languages
the rainbow
of mixed cultures
together yet separate

I’m from New York’s
suburbs
refineries and trains
corporate villages
and business suits
road rage
where The Finger
is an official hand signal of the culture

I’m from New Jersey
Garden State
the Eastern Shore
right in view
of
Lady Liberty.

pmr 12/6/09