by Jean Lewis (written in the Hamilton Arms Writing Workshop)
I am from Fairfield, a village full
of special people, a general store full
of all the good things kids like to eat.
I’m from Estella and Paul.
I’m from a house over my father’s garage,
the smell of gas and oil.
From a locust tree full of white flowers—
it looked like snow on the ground.
From a church on the hill that called my name.
Eddie got his toes cut off in a lawn mower,
and I drove him illegally to my parents.
Ruth, my best friend,
still is.
Jean Lewis (b. 1933) was a homemaker and a lifelong member of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. Formerly of Peach Bottom, PA, Jean died at Hamilton Arms Center in April of 2020 of COVID-19. Until this workshop began in October of 2019, Jean had never written creatively.
Tyler Barton 