Lina Lau

Where I’m From #34By Lina LauInspired by George Ella LyonI am from homemade thingsPizza and dresses and playdough in every colourI am from the house before the bend,Small, red-brick, blooming lilacs in springI am from a towering mapleSwung in its arms, covered in leaf piles, burnt orange and brilliantI am from snow forts and blanket fortsSummer road trips across the borderSand in our bathing suitsFrom an immigrant father who left home at 20, never seeing his parentsAnd an immigrant mother, born the only daughter, born to take care of her parentsI’m from big feelings and high expectationsNo apologies and silencesFrom being a disappointment to being a source of prideI’m from a god passed down to me, but not passed onto my daughtersI’m from moussaka, skordalia, and a jello ice cream dessert that no one remembers the name ofFrom my grandmother’s treasure chestFull of hoarded cash saved over years, found after her deathAnd from cousins died too tragic, too young.Volumes of photo albums lined up in my parents’ basementDusty and fullEvery picture dated and labelledA family of shared livesUntil the memories will be mine alone.Where to find Lina:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_linalau_/Where to find Alyson:Website: https://www.alysonshelton.comSubstack: https://whereimfrom.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byalysonshelton/