Richard

i am from my mother.

i am from a hard place

whose fortunes are sinking.

i am from french canadians,

angry men and overworked women

who toiled in factories,

put their nickels in the church basket

on Sundays,

built churches, made the beds,

who loved well and badly.

i am from the visual world.

i am from jazz and coffee.

i am from a tribe of fruit cutters and trappers,

machinists and seamstresses.

i am from New England factories.

i am from cabinet makers.

i am from America.

i am from Fall River.

i am from Day Street.

i am from the first floor.