I Dwell In Other Lands Poem by Frank Papaycik

I dwell in other lands
In ways that others wouldn’t
The lands - the City down
The street the stop on the El

The city across the river
The places others go
But don’t really realize
That dwelt in other lands

So sad with all the world
Around - they miss the Temple
Down the street - places a stop
Away - on the Runs of the Septa

Most of all they miss the place
Called - the Sacred Past
It is - that is - a Foreign Country
They do - do things - differently

Tell me would you buy a pass port
Or get an ATM card and use it
To go to paris new york rome oahu
oshkosh finland station katmandu

You don’t speak the language
Of the people - know the food
Or the customs - Of the people
That’s an adventure - fun you say

When - I - mention some one
Any one thing from the past
Remote or distant - Don’t talk about it
Mention it - It’s done over - Finished

Why bother - all the time money
Effort trouble momentary complaints
Visiting those foreign shores where
They do things annoyingly differently

And then eschew the very real -
Foreign Country - known so well
For a while - or a long a time a go
The one Birthed in Grew in Ate in Smelt in

Saw in Heard in Loved in We’re Loved in
And as when pointed out - Lived in Died in
In the past - why avoid it - instead
Luxuriate in it - you all ready know it

Forget the Passport - but not the ATM card
Forget the Rossetta Stone and medicines
For diarrhea and travel tickets - All
Necessary Unnecessaries of Foreign Travel

Come with me upon the Grand Tour
Trust me - I’m a certified guide of it
Let us visit the Grandest Foreign Country
Ever known - now being Rediscovered

Discover or rediscover with me as
Your guide or better - go a lone
It’s easy - visit the Foreign Country
You know so well - You are It

Visit Your Foreign Country
You’ll find it on the Market
Frankford Line - Any Stop
You’ll know it - if Fugue Dementia

Strikes - Stop - don’t fear it
Then call me - I’m Certified
I’ll remind Us - We’re really in It
The Foreign Country - The Past