Maryland

I drive from where
I live through
The woods for miles
To Annapolis,
The forested hills
On one side and
The tidal creeks
And inlets on the
Other side.
Snow covers all.
This countryside
Is so beautiful,
Why did my family
Move west across the
Mountains and down
The Ohio to
Southern Illinois?
We were poor,
Veterans of Washington’s
Virginia militia with
Braddock, of the
Revolution and of the
Civil War,
All to gain land.
Now we are scattered
Across the continent,
An amalgam of so
Many ethnicities,
After 268 years
In America,
Folks still cannot
Pronounce our name.
Or, we cannot
Let go of
Our past.