I’m from the key-chain round my neck.
I’m from dinner-tables where my father spoke alone.
I’m from dust of bookshelves.
from plights of duty.
from homework done in warmth from table-lamp,
from tea at nine (if homework done).
I’m from recording TDK and Maxell tapes.
I’m from reading late
from watching TV black and white.
I’m from country houses (chopping wood)
from weekend forest work.
from backseat travels to the north
from skis and skates.
from sunny sea-side summers.
I’m from bullied loneliness.
From Wikimedia commons
Today Mary Mary wants us to answer the question from where we are at dVerse poetics. Not so much in terms of Geography but more in the sense of other things that have formed us. Come and meet us, bar opens at 3PM EST.
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April 28, 2015
Björn Rudbergs writings 
I recognize the generational resemblance, Björn, I too am ‘from recording TDK and Maxell tapes.’ I can also certainly feel the loneliness in your words – even before your striking closing line – and picture a serious and lonely boy.
Oh, I remember those TDK and MAXELL tapes, too, & the black and white television. I get a picture of one who has spent a lot of time in the out of doors. I know I would have liked those sunny sea-side summers & the tea at nine!
A personal autobiography that makes me sad for the bullying but happy for the skis, skates, and seaside summers. I spent hours in my room recording favorite music from radio onto cassette tapes as a teen!
Yes, TDK and Maxell tapes, B&W TV. What a lonely boy. I think we at dVerse are going to find we are all related – cousins at least. I am glad there was some relief from the bully, from the chopping wood, from the seriousness and study.
This is great, Bjorn. I really like that it gives us a better look into who you are and what shaped you. And I remember those tapes well too….what a nostalgic walk down memory lane that image is!
This is a beautiful and savagely conflicted homeland Bjorn.
Oh, Bjorn… this is powerful; I feel the sense of loneliness lingering throughout and bam – the last line.
I especially like the opening, Bjorn– with the keychain and the homework. It is a lovely sort of list poem. Thanks. K.
oh that last line hit hard… when i grew up our parents kind of bullied us kids – so we friends stuck together like tar…
love the weekends out in the woods… a nice sort of work – even though exhausting
you have a habit of punching me in the gut with your last line. This poem just rings with the hard work…but joys of living away from the tumult of the city, but you make it clear that even rural areas have their problems.
This had a wonderful use of from… Capturing those tiny details that bury themselves deep and unexpectedly sprout. The last line packed in a punch!
I do agree that your last line is killer, but the whole poems beams with Bjornness; lovely journey through the veils of the past; excellent rock of the prompt, & a touching intimate glimpse of you.
The first and last lines in this are haunting. Though kids today might not understand many of the things in between, the latch-key kid syndrome and bullied loneliness remain far to common. And yet you seem to have turned out just fine thank to all the things in the middle. Very nice peek into where you are from. Peace, Linda
Oh I am from vinyl 45’s and a little battered square record player whose needle scritched and scratched on the record….and from hours of singing in my bedroom to the chagrin of my long suffering family, LOL. Loved this, Bjorn. Sad about the bullying. The best people get bullied and the bullies grow up to have no lives.
I recognise a lot of the elements there – the keychain round the neck, the dusk on bookshelves, the reading late. You capture a whole generation, a whole geography and a whole type of child – no small feat!
What a wonderful cornucopia of memories…. Dinner tables where father speaks alone, tea by nine, homework at a desk with lamp, B/W television…. I remember all these. Bullied loneliness though stabbed me like a knife….. It takes everything to make us who or what we are I guess…. Bravo Bjorn…
Love the assembly of where you are from. Sorry for your bullied loneliness, hope that is not still happening to you.
I can relate to a lot of this from the dusty bookshelves to the Maxell tapes to the loneliness.
Wonderful images. The enigmatic closing … perfect!
Yes.. truly the loneliest place of all can be when we are only from the records of others..as is then..:)
I think you are def part of nature it seems to fit you so well and dang that last line is like a knife..that loneliness…cuts you and leaves a scar..I think we should dance like the bears in the forest…I am just reading tonight not writing.
God, Bjorn, the “bullied loneliness” just killed me. Yeah, i get that. The TDK letters jumped off the screen – gave me a mental image of the cassette tape before I could scroll down and see the pic, how freaky is THAT? Great. Amy
The TDK is something that is a generation thing.. I think adding things that give it a place and time is some of the essence in writing… and sometimes you do not have to say it directly.
joys and fears of childhood so beautifully knit…
Wow, you definitely hit the memory play button with TDK and Maxwell tapes!! My life too :-). A beautiful life and unfortunately I relate to bullied loneliness too. Great poem!
Until the last line, I thought that where you were from was the ideal spot! But bullied loneliness sounds like a vague sadness to me. You always come with brilliant metaphors, Björn. This is well crafted.
It is fascinating how differently we all perceive source.
This makes me sad: there is so much that is difficult lurking behind this poem. Your usual fluent and upbeat poetry is surprising, given this history.
A lot of things have happened since.. Especially starting at University changed me to another person.
That last line was sharp with reality, and sad. I can’t relate to the other details of your poem. My life was different. But the loneliness of being bullied – that I know. This is a lovely poem Bjorn.
This is deep, my friend. You are from somewhere as we say here and you have arrived a beautiful or should I say handsome poet! 🙂
I’m glad you had “travels… skis and skates … sea-side summers” along the rest 🙂
An interesting, analyzed bio, Bjorn–sounds like you know yourself well. (And like you turned the bullied loneliness into a positive.)
when i saw the picture, I thought you were from Guardians of the Galaxy. 😉
My Brain is a Cheap Gadget That Spins
An undertone of sadness in this. It is always enlightening to look back at our lives, especially as children.
Lovely, as I picture you as a young man and student enjoying the sea and skates; a touch of Hans C. Anderson, if I may say so….and I recognize the pressure of being bullied or having decisions made for us. Anyone who stomps on the fragility of the childhood/teen spirit with intent to do damage is criminal in my mind..to stifle or limit growth is sad and I applaud anyone who come out from under that and grows by leaps and bounds later…in spite of or because of…
For some reason the line ‘I’m from dinner-tables where my father spoke alone.’ really moved me- the truth of a relationship revealed in so few words – lovely write and nice to get a glimpse of that part of your life.
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