I am from Catfish, North Carolina,
from a pale blue trailer with 2 bedrooms and a squeaky screen door.
I’m from riding with Daddy in his old, beaten Ford,
from climbing out windows of scrap cars.
I am from warm summer afternoons spent swinging on the front porch with Momma,
from cold, finger-numbing days spent splitting and loading firewood for winter.
I am from growing up rough to being raised tough.
I am from getting lost on back country roads when going on road trips.
I’m from listening to Mr. J. R. Cash’s music and knowing every line,
from singing hymnals on Sunday mornings in church.
I am from the sound of Daddy’s truck starting early in the mornings,
I’m from the smell of the diesel exhaust.
I am from big family dinners and the fading away of them,
from the verbose Spanish I often didn’t understand.
I’m Newton, North Carolina,
from Maiden High School.
I am from the corner in the front of the school where all my friends stand.
I am from good times and loud laughs,
from inappropriate jokes and bittersweet goodbyes.
I am from hardships and triumphs,
from friends that had my back when family wasn’t there.
I am from dark places, steadily transcending into bright paths.
                                                                   - Adrianna M. Nunez