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I Am From Magazine

I am from
My green blankey and
Climbing out of my crib
From playing mermaid in the bathtub.

I am from walking my dog,
And the noise he made when I step on his tail.

I am from my sheep nightlight
And Blue’s Clues and the Berenstain Bears.
I am from spinning until
I can’t tell where I am and
Seeing the world upside-down.

I am from long days at school
And hurrying home to watch Pokémon.
From chocolate-chip cookies at
Grandma’s house.

I am from July days in the pool
And running through the sprinklers.
From my imaginary friends and
The games we used to play like
Doctor and patient and teacher and student.

I am from trips to the grocery store
And that time I fell out of the cart onto the
Sticky linoleum floor.

I am from the tap tap tap
Of my tap shoes that one week
That I decided to be a dancer.
I am from trying new things.

I am from rainy days
And board games,
Saturday cartoons and Cheerios.

I am from walks on the beach
And the sand on my feet,
And not wanting to go home after vacation.

I am from Barbies and Polly Pockets
From playing with my sister,
The other half of me.

I am from books and flashlights
And pens and paper.
From silence to screaming.

I am from tears on my pillow
And unanswered cries.
From holding your hand
And that look in your eyes.

I am from past and present
And dreams of the future.
I am from hard work and
Harder play.
And I am from writing down my thoughts
On a midsummer’s day.

Magazine This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.




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This article has 248 comments. Post your own!

CallMeMeatBall said...
Feb. 1 at 2:49 pm:

I love this poem! It shows how much you changed over the years! and also makes you think back on your life!

 
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laurensoccerVIP said...
Jan. 27 at 9:42 pm:

This poem is so beautiful! It takes me back to when I was little!!!! Keep writing!!!!

 
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Fia-fiaVIP said...
Jan. 24 at 8:54 pm:

This is beautiful and so sweet! it is wonderful that you looked back on your life and shared with us the things that made you who you are.... Thank you! :)

 
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luv2run2299VIP said...
Jan. 24 at 6:22 pm:

This is so good! I love it! Keep writing (:

 
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bobby1995 said...
Jan. 24 at 1:44 pm:

I think this is a motivated well consturcted poem. Check out my where i'm from

 
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Precious_15VIP said...
Jan. 17 at 3:09 pm:

I love this..Check out my Where Im From . :)

 
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JamesODalaighVIP said...
Jan. 2 at 2:20 pm:

I really love this poem, added to my favourites! You're great!

 
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livelovesmileVIP said...
Jan. 2 at 10:12 am:

This poem is amazing! I like the repetition of the "I am from" and especially like the ending where you relate past to preent. Nice job- keep writing!

 
KarinaDavidyukVIP replied...
Jan. 13 at 4:47 pm :

this poem is based on a real poem a real poet wrote. I wrote one like this for a school assignment checki mine out and dnt forget to vote :D

 
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Wildflower30VIP said...
Dec. 11, 2011 at 9:57 am:

This poem is all feelings, and it is amazing! 

 
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Celine D. VIP said...
Nov. 21, 2011 at 8:53 pm:

This made me remember my own childhood and it is a happy and sad thing to remember back in that way. I miss it. Very nicely done.

 
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theworksofcieraforresterVIP said...
Nov. 19, 2011 at 11:51 pm:

We are both from the same place.

 
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Muzee3VIP said...
Nov. 19, 2011 at 8:16 pm:

I love the way this poem is organized. Its all beautiful. Such memories never fade away. Finally, its not how we lived, but, what we lived with.:) K.I.U.

 
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artmantistVIP said...
Nov. 19, 2011 at 5:26 pm:

hello, nice poem. Would u guys wanna check out my work. its called the cottage 

thank u

 
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ChelsyyVIP said...
Nov. 4, 2011 at 7:40 pm:

I love it this is amazing it reminds me of the good old days to amazing work loved it x3

 
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Gingersnap777VIP said...
Oct. 28, 2011 at 4:31 pm:

Great job!  Such a well-rounded subject, and so well presented.  The only inconsistency I noticed was in your last two stanzas wherein you began to rhyme the last and third to last lines.  It works well with that section of the piece, but because you do not use this throughout, it is a slightly startling discrepancy.  But that's just me being picky.  Good job :)

 
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DeusExMachinaVIP said...
Oct. 28, 2011 at 2:42 pm:

Hey good job! We had to do this a few years ago as an assignment in english class!

 
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. said...
Oct. 28, 2011 at 2:22 pm:

This is awesome! It made me kind of nostalgic thinking about my childhood. Anyway, this is a great collection of memories put together in a great way! :)

 
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AsIAmVIP said...
Oct. 28, 2011 at 6:42 am:

This is amazing! :) Really feels like childhood :)

 

P.S.  I used to LOVE the Berenstein Bears :)

 
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purp_butterfly said...
Oct. 25, 2011 at 11:14 am:

My creative writing teacher gave us this "I Am From" prompt in class. I had a lot of fun with it & ours is similar but maybe I should post mine so you can see.

 
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Lexie96VIP said...
Oct. 22, 2011 at 6:41 pm:

I like it; so much like my childhood it's not even funny. Wow, just really well written. Think maybe you could check out some of my work sometime? Anyone?

 
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heather_marieVIP said...
Oct. 6, 2011 at 10:08 am:

wow i really like it how u desribed your life

 
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golden29 said...
Oct. 4, 2011 at 11:01 pm:

Wow.  This is the best I've seen on this site so far.

 
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Fifona said...
Sept. 28, 2011 at 5:58 pm:

Awesome i like it :)(:

 
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GG859 said...
Sept. 14, 2011 at 11:20 pm:

This poem is exactly my childhood!  I miss those Polly Pockets, a lot.  The last two stanzas are excellent.  This is a beautiful poem I'm sure a lot of people can relate to as well.

 
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TevoRocks said...
Sept. 14, 2011 at 9:37 pm:

awesome poem it rocks dont stop doing what you love ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!

 
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Bradymb94VIP said...
Sept. 14, 2011 at 5:15 pm:

whoa!! I did the exact same thing, our teacher last year assigned an "I am from poem" :D small world! it's not on my account though

 

 
FlawlessPoet replied...
Sept. 14, 2011 at 6:42 pm :

yea me too. awesome poem

 
Mr.ABC replied...
Sept. 14, 2011 at 7:09 pm :

Yeah I did the same thing in a class just a few weeks ago actually lol. 

 
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WeAllBurnVIP said...
Sept. 14, 2011 at 11:58 am:

loved <3 5/5 (:

please check some of mine out? (:

i would greatly appreciate it.

 
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RandomRanda said...
Sept. 12, 2011 at 6:07 pm:

i like this poem! i did on of these in school and it got me into writing

 
Maverick replied...
Sept. 13, 2011 at 7:06 pm :

hey guys so 1 thing i am mostly a writer so let me know if help is wanted & 2 I am also doing a "i am from" poem for my school.

 
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StarDayDreamer said...
Aug. 31, 2011 at 10:55 am:

I love the random facts! :D

 
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sasssgirrrl22 said...
Aug. 23, 2011 at 4:12 pm:

this is so amazing. i love all of it, and can relate to so much. the last few lines are my favorite though. its very powerful. plz keep writing!

 
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BlueFootVIP said...
Aug. 5, 2011 at 3:32 pm:

freaking amazing. You'll never see this due to the massive influx of comments you have gotten. but. this reminds me of my 90's childhood intensely

 
WriterDancerLover replied...
Aug. 6, 2011 at 7:22 pm :

Thanks for commenting. I read them all and thank you for the feedback!

 
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ElleNicoleVIP said...
Jul. 10, 2011 at 1:30 pm:

Really good. Check out my work?

 
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starstruk87bVIP said...
Jun. 4, 2011 at 8:27 pm:

dude this is great. i did all these things when i was a kid too. hmm very nostalgic feeling there. props

 
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DallasCox said...
Jun. 1, 2011 at 12:20 pm:

I absolutely love this. The descriptions of childhood are things we can all relate to. And the transition from youth and happiness to adolescence and trials is so abrupt, that it really captures the speed of growing up.

I love this.

 
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ChelseaSmith said...
May 27, 2011 at 8:06 pm:

I just had to do an I am From poem for school! My teacher started crying when I read mine! Hha <3

 
GothChik95VIP replied...
May 31, 2011 at 5:31 pm :

if you haven't already, you should totally put it up on here.

 
FaithCarpender replied...
Jan. 12 at 5:48 am :

this had feelings and emotion but this is lacking sentence structure structure is the most important thing in a sentence.

 
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miky123 said...
May 9, 2011 at 8:49 am:

I think that was amazing

 
MIKEY123 replied...
May 9, 2011 at 8:54 am :

GREAT I THINK THE SAME THING!!!!!!!:D

 

 
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jaaaws_17 said...
May 5, 2011 at 10:53 am:

I did an English assignment written in this form; I should post it haha. I like yours :D

 
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iamAbelVIP said...
Apr. 13, 2011 at 6:01 pm:

Awesome work!! :)

 
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I.believeVIP said...
Mar. 23, 2011 at 12:07 am:

I love this poem!! It's beautiful and full of meaning, showing us that we come from what has happened to us in our life.  I don't know what else to say, it's just so pretty and, wow!!

 
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Hotaru said...
Mar. 22, 2011 at 6:39 pm:

This was a great poem. Your writing showed me clear images for each word I read. It was surprising how you captured so many important aspects of life in such a short amount of space. You have really good writing abilities, and your words create amazing imagery. I am personally not very good at writing even though I wish I could be but you have some serious talent. (I should know, I read so many books!)

 
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daniecVIP said...
Feb. 28, 2011 at 8:10 am:

really great well written

 
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Lanielee said...
Feb. 25, 2011 at 1:40 pm:

I love your poem, It was Great!!!

 
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