Dandelions: My Heritage

Dandelions
By Danielle Cavinder

I am from cornfields
From dirt roads and snow sludge.
I am from deer crossings,
From muddy tires and foot deep bumps.

I am from hay barns,
From musty lofts and prickly bales.
I am from grain feed,
(Crumbly and sticky it tasted like syrup.

I am from blanket tents,
From scabbed knees and Disney movies.
I am from Saturday afternoons,
From chlorine water and trampoline burns.

I am from twilight evenings,
From lightning bugs and cricket song.
I am from divorce,
From goodbye tears and long farewells.

I am from “I’ll miss you,”
From “Please come with me,” and “Please stay here.”
I am from different worlds,
From books and pages of different lands.

I am from Dandelions,
From scattered seeds cast out by lawn-mower winds.
Each place blooming with new flowers
Until old scars are over grown.

I chose to add this poem because when I wrote I was thinking about what and where I come from. It's not always about places. It's about words, people, feelings, things, and experiences that shape us into our current state of mind. Culture plays a part in how accepting we are of others but even caged birds have the capacity to sing out to others.