[the Writing of Kuypers]    [JanetKuypers.com]    [Bio]    [Poems]    [Prose]

Around the World... & Sweet Home Chicago     And you know, I talk about travel around the world, but where we come from shows who we are. I mean, once I was on the other side of the world, at the Summer Palace, and an older man came over to me, knowing little english, and said, “My daughter and I wanted to know where you were from.” So... not knowing how much geography they knew, I said, “I’m from the United States, in Illinois, in Chicago.” And that’s when this old man from the other side of the world said, “oh... my kind of town.” And I started laughing, knowing the song, and then he said, “Frank Sinatra sang that.” and I laughed more, then realizing that although I try to learn about the world, but my soul still hold on to my Chicago roots, other editors even comment on my style of writing being affected by being from the MidWest, being from Chicago... being from here affects my style and my art, oftentimes as much as my family history.     I talk about learning stories from around the world, but I think we can also learn from stories right here, and as we live in this big world, it helps us to not feel small, but to grow larger than life. Copyright © 2007 Janet Kuypers. U.S. Government Copyright © 2004 Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers on all art and all writings on this site completed before 6/6/04. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission.