I grew among lights,
fluorescent neon caressing the
windows of antique shops
and cornerstores
The buzzing land of the busy,
black umbrellas turning their backs
on rain andcrowded alleys
clogged with crisp Fall leaves
I grew up with cars and
factory chimneysspewing
smoke like
ripe cigarettes
and the television arguing
with the radio overthe
nonsensical issues that
supposedly affected me
I grew with the river,
summer daysplucking snails
off of moist leaves and holding
annual caterpillar circuses
Searchingavidly for grasshoppers
with hair like the wind, and knowing
that there was no suchthing
as a day
I grew up with the sun
and the stars and the moon,
bright eyes watchingme from
the vastness of the universe
I grew in two places at once
that intertwined toform
my heart