Where I'm From

I am from video games,

From Halo and Fable.

I am from the mud puddles and tall grass

(Spreading out endlessly

Across the large green fields)

I am from the pine trees,

From the sharp cold wind

Whooshing through the thick

Brown forests.

I am from family reunions and brown eyes,

From Justo and Fabio

Arosemena.

I am from the artists

And the architects,

From put that down!

And stop that!

I am from church-free

Weekends yet from occasional prayers,

From the silver cross sitting

On my nightstand.

I’m from the grand mountains of Medellin, Colombia;
Covered with dark green vegetation.
From the unknown land of Munich, Germany;
A place I've never seen before, yet one which I belong in.

I am from the Arosemena-Schnitters:
A one-of-a-kind bloodline,
More German than Grandpa himself.

From Bandejas Paisas

And morning coffee.

I am from that first tooth I lost
Playing on the monkey bars,

From the precious little curls
That once twirled and bounced on my head.

Those few pictures stored

Inside my dead grandfather’s closet,

Revealing the lost memories all five

Brothers have no recollection of.

I am from those memories—

Almost myth-like stories—

In which we once were united.