I Am From the l  o  n  g minutes it takes me to get to my apartment 

And the splashing of people in our apartment pool late a night

I Am From a room with so many pictures and random things you can’t see the plain white carpet and wall

And The loud screaming voices from the parks and sport stadiums nearby blending in with the wind that circles my porch

I Am From nights of bright glistening lights from the other buildings around me

And the feeling of relief and happiness I get when I walk into my kitchen

I Am From doing my homework on the floor and not my desk

And reading so much my parents have to grab the book out of my hand to get me to listen

I Am From the puny bookcase that doesn’t hold all of my books

And the desk with so many things you can’t sit there without something falling o

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I Am From an e n d l e s s hallway with paintings that it seems like I will never reach my apartment door

And the ugly scratchy carpet in my room

And the blurry foggy sky that surrounds my neighborhood

THIS IS WHERE I’M FROM

I Am From the extended minutes thinking about how I can help the world

And The 20-30 minutes it takes me to block out everything around me and write a song then when I’m done crumble it up and throw it a

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I Am From feeling like I am in a book when I read it

And filling up so many notebooks with drawings and other random stuff that my drawers o

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I Am From wanting to write and be alone for hours on end but I n e v e r can

And The lengthy amount of time I spend thinking about what I want to be when I grow up and everything seems so stupid

I Am From listening to so much music it seems to follow me everywhere 

And From wondering about Ukraine and trying to find something I can do to help

THIS IS WHERE I’M FROM

I Am From the pasta, sushi, tacos, pizza and Mac & cheese from the ugly brown drawer of food

And The l  o  n  g talks at my dinner table about being a vegetarian

I Am From the family talk’s where out boring days are passed around the table

And The feeling of Joy when I’m done with my f

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I Am From the fact I want to explode when it is 5 minutes until dinner

And The latkes and donuts on Hanukkah

I Am From l  o  n  g family dinners where I am always the last one to finish my food

And apples, cheese sticks, honey, and fruit strips

I Am From gooey and sticky fruit bars and other snacks

And The pasta with loads of cheese and red sauce

I Am From constantly listening to sizzling pans of delicious smelling food

THIS IS WHERE I’M FROM

I Am From the nights of Jewish holidays filled with laughter and love

And The Marvel movies and shows I watch with my dad

I Am From the hour of sitting next to my sister and mom watching urvivor 

And The long excitement filled trips to Colorado to ski, see snow, and visit family

I Am From the crashing waves of trips to florida and the things about my mom I never knew, from trips to Virginia 

And The fact that we are the sisalky family

I Am From the long hugs and facetimes on birthdays and Hanukkah 

And From music blasting from our little speaker as me and my parents measure ingredients for our food

THIS IS WHERE I’M FROM

I Am From my WiLd and c  r  a  z  y personality

And The bits of me that feel self conscious, anxious, and stressed out

I Am From being nice and trustworthy 

And The fraction of me that wishes people saw me a little differently but not knowing what I would want from that

I Am From having so many nicknames I can’t keep count anymore

And The parts of me that want to explode when people compare be to my sister and other people

I Am From trying to stand up for people and myself but chickening out everytime

And The super amazing feeling of having so many people to support me

THIS IS WHERE I’M FROM

I Am From my passion to help the world

And From trying my best to stay safe from COVID 

And trying to keep my friends and family safe too

I Am From running to cars to see their license plates

And The things I hear my parents talking about in the world I am not aware of

I Am From trying to notice everything I see around me

And From covid swarming around me like the wind, knocking out everyone in its path   

THIS IS WHERE I’M FROM