Who is George Ella Lyon
George Ella Lyon is an American writer and teacher from Kentucky. Born on 25 April 1949. Growing up in the mountains of Kentucky, she loved words, tree climbing, bike riding, singing, her family, stories, and school. She has published many works including picture books, juvenile novels and articles.
Poem Where I’m From
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush,
the Dutch elm
whose long gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.
I am from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from perk up and pipe down.
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures.
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments —
snapped before I budded —
leaf-fall from the family tree.
The poem is a confession of poet’s identity about where she belonged to and how she has grown into what she is today. It is response to the poem ” Stories I Ain’t Told Nobody Yet” written by Jo Carson.
George Ella Lyon puts forth her past specifically her childhood to portray how she grew old with her family. The poem can be referred as a tribute to her family, native and culture.
Line by line poem Interpretation
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush,
the Dutch elm
whose long gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.
In the first three lines, reference is made to household objects . The initial lines speak about clothespins, Clorox and Carbon-tetracholride. It seems as if the poem has started from the middle, irregular introduction from the clothes and households. Yet this free style of poetry builds interest in the further lines. Clorox is a company of commercial bleaching agent and Carbon-tetrachloride is a solvent widely used as cleaning fluid. Poet is using these objects as to express that she is part of all those small things of her house.
She is from the dirt under the back porch, (a structure attached to the entrance of the building often forming a covered entrance) where the dirt is further described as shining and tasting like beetroot. This is the representation of how poet knows all parts of the house which has shaped her into present.
Now she shifts her idea from domestic objects to aspects of nature. She is from the Forsythia bush (spring flowering shrub) and Dutch elm (Dutch elm disease is caused by a member of the sac fungi affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles). She says that major incidents like Dutch elm disease has laid it’s effect on her. Limbs are the branches of bush. The connection between the Forsythia bush and poet shows that she was empathetic towards them.
I am from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from perk up and pipe down.
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
In the next lines, the references are unique in the poem. She is from the fudge (soft creamy candy), and may be she used eyeglasses when she was young. Imogene (innocent maiden) and Alafair (originated from Germanic name Alvar “elf warrior”- “all true”) these are the two names that relate to women who lived in her neighborhood where she grew up in Harlan County, Kentucky.
She is intellectual, typically a know-it-all in a way. Pass-it-on can have two interpretations here, it can either mean her family tradition that is passed into generations or the secrets and stories that are shared from one another. The active perk up to inactive pipe down might be referring to incidents and situations in life back then which made her mood so.
We can find the religious references in the next lines which can portray the influence of religion in poet’s childhood. He restoreth my soul is a line from Psalm from the Old Testament, and the expression cotton ball lamb speaks on a child’s imagination of Jesus Christ and his flock. The ten verses are also related to Bible.
I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Poet says that she is from Artemus (goddess who is usually shown as a Hunter with a bow and arrows) and Billie’s. This is in reference to two sides of a family tree coming together as one in the poem. Also they both are locations in Kentucky. She recalls the incidents from childhood how her grandfather lost his finger while working with auger and her father closed his eyes to keep his sight. The phrase might be metaphorical that father stayed away from certain things in life to maintain peace among family or he closed his one eye to focus on his work to get accurate vision.
Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures.
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments —
snapped before I budded —
leaf-fall from the family tree.
At the end of the poem, poet expresses her emotional bond that she has towards her childhood. The poem seems more warm and intense at this stage. Here, under the bed was a dress box. Under my bed can also be the subconscious mind of the poet. And the word spilling improvises the meaning as her subconscious mind projecting all her old childhood memories.
The word sift has two meanings, one to separate thing with a sifter or sieve and the second one is to go through thoroughly or observe carefully in order to find something. It is unclear that which meaning of the word is presented in the poem. If it is the first meaning, it is to separate them from consciousness and to feel them in her dreams. Or dreams can also mean the present time where she is urging to achieve which led her loose touch to her old memories and thus they are subdued.
The last line of the poem says she is from the those moments snapped before she budded. Here snap can also be interpreted in two ways, one, those pictured were captured before she grew older (budded). Or as the word snap also has the meaning to break quickly which suggest that poet was broken before she budded. The second interpretation sounds right only when it is referred with the next line, that is leaf fall from the family tree. Leaf fall is a metaphor for someone’s death which led to her breakdown. This line is sigficant and beautiful as we can observe that family is compared to tree and it’s members as leaves.
Analysis of Where I’m From
George Ella Lyon had written this poem in 1993 and she describes writing poem as “the process was too rich and too much fun to give up after only one poem“. As the poem is a journey of discovery of the origination, the question of where you are from reaches deep. It also exemplifies that even a small object or incidents that can shape our lives the way we are today. Therefore our every moment of present is rooted under our past.
This poem has gained popularity among the family reunions, lessons for kids in U.S and in other countries. According to Ella, “It’s life beyond my notebook, it is testimony to the power of poetry, of roots and of teacher”. The poem starts with little aspects of life such as clothespins and finally turns religious and ancestral. Unlike other poems, we can find references in each and every line. Poet has said once that “our stories are important stories” and this can be found as a central theme. In the poem reference to Alafair and Bellie was made by poet because she also said that “ I love words, I relished the sound of unusual names, especially together…”
Poetic Devices in Where I’m From
- Alliteration – Clorox and Carbon- tetrachloride.
- Allusion – Apart from starting words From clorox and Under my bed, rest of the lines start with the word I’m. Indirect external reference is seen in most of the lines in the poem.
- Tone – The tone of the poem seems assertive and personal.
- Juxtaposition – The combinations of clean cloths and dark porch are contrasting.
- Enjambment – This technique is used throughout the poem.
