I am from strong chicory coffee cut with scalding, steamed milk

I am from smooth snoball ice in sticky, August heat

I am from warm Christmas gumbo

I am from fresh red fish caught in waters just miles away

I am from the alligator infested waterways

I am from the rapidly receding wetlands

I am from big oil

I am from polluted bayous

I am from the marsh that cries for oxygen

I am from thick French history

I am from a land of parishes not counties

I am from Napoleonic code

I am from a multitude of corrupt politicians

I am from a one in five incarceration rate

I am from normalized, structural racism

I am from a land with dirty history

I am from stolen Native land

I am from the nest of the brown pelican

I am from centuries old cypress trees

I am from old growth oaks

I am from baths among floating magnolia flowers

I am from the smell of air off the water

I am from the mighty Mississippi

I am from my dear Louisiana

For all of her merits

And in spite of her flaws,

I am from my dear Louisiana.

I am from my dear Louisiana.