Who I Am:

A plain girl
from the country,
blessed or cursed,
depending on your view,
with a strong body,
an able back, which has doomed me
to carrying my own boxes
and other heavy burdens
by myself.

A nester by nature
who finds life
in daily chores
and simple tasks.

Reflective, they say,
I would feel immodest doing so.
I would call it quiet,
perhaps on my high-toned days,
contemplative, a town word
to be sure.

The first unlanded generation
in a long line of farmers,
whose favorite color
has always been green.

I would like to live
in a house with a porch
around three sides of it,
gallery they used to call it,
before that word moved to town too,
and became the domain of artists
rather than women
shelling peas.