Thursday, February 14, 2019

Jake Cosmos Aller writes


Rambling Man - Where Do I Belong?


I have been a rambling man
All my adult life



Grew up in Berkeley, California
Went to college in Hayward and Oberlin



During my lost year
Lost in a fog of booze and pot



Then I came back to reality
And went to college



In Stockton, California
The Central Valley



Ohio transplanted to California
Then after four years in Stockton



With extended weekends
And breaks in Berkeley



I became an expatriate wanderer
Peace Corps worker in Korea



Then taught ESL in Korea
For four years



Occasionally returning to my home
But always wanting to be elsewhere



Then back to Korea



And then Seattle for four years
Driving back and forth to the bay area
Stopping off in Southern Oregon



Eventually bought a house and duplex
In Southern Oregon



Vaguely thinking we would retire there
Some day when my rambling ways were over



Then back to Korea for three more years
Then I joined the Foreign service



And my wife the military
And I wandered the world again



Always somewhere
Always dreaming of my next somewhere



Never there
As I was a permanent expat



And a diplomat to boot
Never a local



But never really felt I belong there
Or in the America
That was becoming more and more
A foreign land
The longer I stayed away



I stayed on in DC for almost ten years
Off and on
But never really felt that I belong there



I was too West Coast in my heart
And DC seemed to be



Just a place to stay
In between travels



Stayed in Thailand
Then later India
And Eastern Caribbean
And later Spain



Traveled to 45 countries
Lived in ten



And now I am retired
Still torn between



living the expat life
In Seoul, Korea



And returning to the West Coast
And occasionally back to DC
And Florida as well



And I wonder
Where do I belong



Where do I belong
Other than wherever
My wife and I end up



Neither here nor there
Half way there



And so is that my fate
Never to really belong



Never to have roots in the ground
Always wanting to be somewhere else



Always a stranger in my native land
And a stranger in my other home
Across the sea



There is no answer to these questions
As the rambling urge comes again



And I prepare to move yet again
Hoping someday I will be



Somewhere where I can stop
These rambling blues
And really be there
Image result for homeless wanderer paintings
Homeless Wanderer -- Anna Jagla

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