From what... to who?

I am from knick knacks

Batteries that might have a pulse and stray memories caught in extra accidental prints of family photos

The idea of a fish tank,

drawers and cabinets bursting every which way with whatsits and whatnots

And the hose outside I’ve left running for too long

I am from “I didn’t know that,” and from “can you tell me more?”

I’m from scoldings I needed- “stop wandering off alone,” “think before you speak

I’m from long hallways echoing with “halmuni saranghaeyo, I love you”

I’m from words I don’t know if I should have heard

Things I wish I had said better

I am from countless hopes that my grandparents know that when I say “I love you,” I mean it

I am from a tomboy that fell in love with the twin of her best friend

Who fell in love with education but then

Found that she loved her son and daughter even more

I am from a man who has laid down a thousand dreams

A master of being contented with little

I am from the same cut of cloth

Empty halls of a church in the afternoon

From the great rinse cycle of circumstance,

My roughest edges and deepest stains swept up in the thrilling discomfort of bumping into others in the states that we find ourselves

I am from SimpleGreen all-purpose surface cleaner, Costco everything bagels, and cutout Burger King coupons (now available on the app)

I am from jeans with soaked hems and notes between friends

I am from “this poem made me think of you” and “what if I become my dad”

I am from songs that once rocked me to the core of my being, but don’t, for

I am rarely who I was

I’m from days that I hold a little too tightly and joys I wish I could remember

And gentle reminders that my Father in heaven has loved me in all of it

I’m from the last mile of the road I call "Me"

From the walks at dusk and the ones I’ve loved

From ashes to the One who calls me home