How did this happen?
How did I become an old man
living in a strange land
full of strangers
all speaking in tongues
I can't understand,
and customs I can't comprehend,
praying to a foreign god
that requires no sacrifice
and no penance whatsoever?

Even if I could find my way back home,
I'm certain to find nothing there
but closets full of clothes
I can no longer wear.

November 2002