​This Is Just To Say
BY WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
 
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
 
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Where I'm From
by George Ella Lyon
 
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.
 
I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I'm from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I'm from He restoreth my soul
with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
 
I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
 
Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments--
snapped before I budded –
leaf-fall from the family tree.
​
Where I’m From
By Eileen Carr
 
I am from Takoma,
From Terrace, thumb-sucking,
and too many brothers.
I am from cooler by the lake.
(Sand-obscured limbs, hockey stops,
sleeping giants lie.)
I am from the magnolia blossoms
The tomato plants
The azaleas
Sycamore.
 
I’m from shrimp chips and pumpernickel,
From scramblados and spaghet.
I’m from the Ah-Leen Lady
And the Er-An-Jer-Ad-Eileen,
From You must be a princess!
And What are you?
I’m from upside down pineapples
And strawberry cream.
 
I’m from Abie and Goofy,
Tico, Thumper and Ruger.
From a half-thumbed carpenter
Churning out homemade ice cream,
From Contes Jaunes and Mademoiselles.
 
Right on schedule!
We never really were.
All will be well
Soothed our broken hearts.
I am from the four corners,
To the four corners we’ve dispersed
Always returning to center
What it means to be seven.

Your 4-20 MSSA Reps are doing a holiday project. They need your help! Please bring in toilet paper rolls to help them make the "awesomest" most "recycledest" Christmas wreath ever. The due date is next week Friday, November 30. The collection box will be on the round table. Thank you for your support-- and don't forget, if we get enough toilet paper rolls, we'll be on a ROLL... :)