Where I Am From

Weird Memories


I am from many violins, from rosin being thrown and teachers yelling that I need to practice. I am from computers and their guts being everywhere, placed in anything that could be a plastic bin. Waiting for them to be used while they just multiply instead. I am from Lays original potato chips and ham and cheese sandwiches everyday. One ugly, brown plate for lunch and one ugly, brown plate for dinner. I am from yelling, maybe not at each other but for anything that could’ve been done that wasn’t. From the smell of cigarette smoke and the arguments that it causes cancer. And from the promises that I’ll never have to smell the smoke again, that this is the time to quit. I am from cat scratches, from that awful calico cat that I used to love. To the dog “Maggie” that I used to love that was my personal horse to ride around the house. I am from the sound of a busy city. Where the public transportation system is actually used and the tram is hot and smelly because there is no air condition. To where the rickety car on wheels stops at the shore where the smell of dead fish and raw sewer is so strong you’d rather not breathe at all. I am from the taste of shrimp fried rice made the right way from fresh ingredients bought that day form the open market. And from walking to the bakery in the morning before the humidity sets in to drench my clothes and picking out the best looking bar-b-q pork buns. I am from tennis camp summers where the ground is so hot that is feels like my converse are being melted to the concrete. And from shady food like taquitos that are really the kids who misbehaved that day. I am from rainy summer days when camp is cancelled and the smell of rain makes me forget that there’s still another three hours before my uncle picks me up. But when he does come we can go to the mall to look at over priced clothes I want but end up just getting a dipped cone from DQ. I am from many weird memories that have shaped me into who I am today