almost heaven...

to reconcile; to understand

i come from backcountry roads and woods.

outside city limits.

i come from farmland and factories.

yoplait in my backyard.

i come from sawmills and saloons.

karaoke on a tuesday.

i come from moonshine and kitchen sinks.

shots in the deer blind.

i come from forestocks and chambers.

keeping everything in my sights.

i come from treetops when streetlights illuminate a darkened road home.

a mother's call.

i come from the four-wheel.

i come from the creek.

i come from the clay cliffs that hang over the track.

i come from maple, cedar, lilac, and apple trees.

"safari" in my dad's camo.

neighborhood games of tag and water fights.

rural charm, small-town niceties.

a pleasant hello on a sunday afternoon, i come from

church and charcoal

grills. green bean casserole with cornflakes on top.

i come from picnics in a park where smokestacks choke and cloud views.

pollution.

the john denver sing-along echoing across the muskegon

from the riverside lounge named after a slur,

reminds me that not all of the places

i come from are

the place i belong.