Where I’m From (Jasmine Medina)

 

I’m from the city of the hills.

Not quite the suburbs, not quite the city.

I’m from the little brick pathway on the side of the house.

Pale, crumbling,

It gave me stitches when I was four.

 

I’m from rice and beans with every meal,

From pegao and bacalao.

I’m from old Jazz records,

The soft, simple sounds of Miles Davis

And the deep, coarse voice of Etta James.

I’m from that Power Puff Girls bed set

Slowly rotting away in the laundry room

From old Twilight posters that I will never admit to owning.

 

I’m from the solitary moments in my room

Playing with imaginary friends.

Burrowing myself into my own little world

And not fitting in.

From times of feeling lonely

But perfectly content.

 

 

I’m from dysfunctional family get-togethers

That never go as planned.

From the organized chaos of Christmas Day

The day we put everything aside

And pretended to be a loving family.

I’m from the tears shed

When my aunt and uncle died.

It was a few days before Christmas

And the holidays were never the same after that.

 

I’m from the man with music in his soul

And the woman who always has control.

I’m from the withered woman

With the vibrant aura and the silver tongue.

I’m from generations of hatred, of passion, of love, and guilt.

I’m from chances taken and chances lost.

From dreams that became reality

And dreams that shriveled away and died.

But above all,

I’m from home

A home that’s far from perfect,

Filled with all kinds of holes and cracks,

But a home nonetheless.

It is my home

And there is no place I’d rather be.

When I first found out about this project, I honestly did not think that I could do a decent job. My skills with writing poetry (or any form of creative writing) are far from stellar and up until now I have never really used iMovie. But now that I have actually finished with the project, I feel accomplished. There’s something really satisfying about proving yourself wrong. I really enjoyed seeing the range in creativity with the other “Where I’m From” projects. All of them were amazing but very different in their own ways. All of the videos were a reflection of their creators. Even though there was a sense of ambiguity in all of the pieces, I feel like I learned so much about all of the people that presented. I am definitely looking forward to more projects like this in the future.