I am from the dirty streets where I have to watch my back  second, from the schools where people like to start fights around the hallways.
I am from the neighborhoods where you are scared to come out of your house. 

I am from the comfortable bed, the pages with words on it
and the place where my family lives called home.
I am from the place where we get to eat crabs all day,
and the place where we get sand over our bodies from building sand castles...

I am from the place where I drove around in my mom’s car on Christmas               day to see my grandparents and the snow that covered my uncle’s yard.
From Crystal’s side of the family and Russell’s side of the family. 
I am from the place where I was told about my emotional behavioral disability.
I am from the place where I was told that if boys are mean to you, it means they like you...and that the police are enemies.

I am from the church halls my grandmother took me to on Sunday,
and from the classes where we got along.
I am from the Chesapeake Bay, the place’s where they speak German, Irish, and Polish... the crabs and shrimp that my family feasts on each year.
I am from Germany, Ireland, and Poland.

I am from the book where the pictures hold my cherished memories, relatives and family that even I don't know about.
From the book that's to my family and it tells stories about my life that I don’t remember.
I am from the time when Gabby got chased by a crab when Crystal tried to cook it in the pot...the time when Michael got washed away on his boogie board in the ocean.
The time where Serena got ice cream over her face.
I am from the place that we know as Maryland.