Editorial

Where I’m from
After: Where I’m From, Where Poems Come From By GEORGE ELLA LYON

I am from the land of Queen Sheba
whose blood runs in my veins
where the sun always shines

but is eight years behind,
I am from a mother who spent her life
searching for the mother she never knew

and learned of her death in Saudi Arabia
from a stranger in the streets,
I am from friends who keep leaving

their hearts in foreign shores
but keep on coming back
to a home they can’t recognize,

I am from cancerous cells and mutations
endless derivations and calculations
analyzing compounds and making up solutions

that create even more problems,
I am from an older sister
who taught me the art of faith

and from a younger one
who says I love too much,
I am from that neighborhood

famous for its banks
where people come to withdraw
the unexplored existence,

I am from white Christmases
celebrated in continents of lovers
who don’t speak my religion
but are fluent in my tongue of love.