Inside Me

                                                       Inside Me

Inside me is Mother Nature's friend

   who struggles with making good environmental choices.

Inside me is a vegetarian

   who loves a great cheeseburger.

Inside me is an animal lover

   who doesn't think twice about killing a spider.

Inside me is a  bird lover

   who thinks starlings should be shot.

Inside me is a recycling genius

   who has been known to use paper plates for parties.

Inside me is an organic gardener

   who will treat roses with systemic insecticide.

Inside me is an opponent of genetic modification

   who loves her golden doodle.

Inside me is a person who wants to do right

   who is really just a human struggling with choices.

Where I Am From

Where I Am From

                 Deb Covey

I am from my grandmother's lap and my grandfather's alcoholism.

I am from having a brain that questioned the rules of a small conservative town that was diverse-less.

I am from a very generous, caring  family that thought I was a weirdo hippy.

I am from a high school where freshman initiation was applauded and included debasement.

I am from a town of girls that thought having a boyfriend was more important than academics.

I am from a college that embraced me, even when I turned my back on it to have too much fun.

I am from the school where I met the guy who changed my life.

I am from young love and yearning that went too far.

I am from young motherhood and marriage where I learned to "deal with it".

I am from a marriage with a husband that works too late and loves too little.

I am from children who paid attention and had good manners and loved their mother with all of their hearts.

I am from the heartbreak of children moving away to the big city.

I am from the worry of the mother of a gay child.

I am from reinvention in my later years.

I am from a father who empowered me by his love and left me to die.

I am from all of the women before me who made me who I am.