I am the product...

I am the product of all who I have ever met.
I am the product of green vegetables, beets, and corn,
of hamburgers and hot dogs, Mother's Sunday roast, and Dad's vegetable soup,
I am the product of friends kept and friends that slipped away.
I am the product of books and teachers that I have known,
of girls that I have loved,
of girls who loved me back and
of those that haven't.
I am the product of enemies and adversaries,
of strangers,
of smiles and disdainful looks.
I am the product of molecules and atoms
of the breath that you exhale,
of the words that you have spoken.
I am the product of all that I remember.



C. 2008, D. Normand

I wrote this at a recent writer's conference that I attended.