I am from a broken home
Ruined by the drug addict mother
And the father who left us, an alchoholic
When the yelling and fighting is done
Mommy's in prison
And Daddy's a wanted man

I am from a loving family
The sweet little blue-eyed boy and girl
With fair hair and anger issues
The kind, understanding grandparents who saved us,
And the uncle who tries too hard
And is scared to death we'll turn out like out parents

I am from growing up too fast
The one who does everything because no one else will,
Who stays out of trouble because they have enough to worry about,
And who holds everyone and everything together
A little girl carrying the weight of one too many grown ups

I am from crying my heart out
Waiting for something I know will never happen,
No matter how often I pray,
How many birthday wishes I use,
Or how much I hope it will

I am from reading and writing
The girl ho expresses herself better with words than actions
And who loses touch with reality
Because fiction is better, its easier
Who writes because she knows that if she doesn't like it,
She can always change the ending

I am from under the covers
Hiding from the nightmares that become reality
Listening to the soft sound of rain hitting the window
And drifting off, hoping to never wake up again

And no one ever asked me if this is what I wanted

Author notes

Well, I had an assignnment for English. My teacher said to simply, "Write a poem using the words 'I am from' at the begining of each stanza. This is what I came up with