State of the nation

We are a nation of wanderers,

We all have a bit of the jew in us

You have heard them,

         you surely have heard them

during family reunions, and in bingo halls

at all day breakfast houses and feed lot buffets

at the chain coffee shops and supermarkets

speaking disparagingly of the one

that stayed in their home town

or as if it were a quaint and

old timey thing to have done

The child that didn't move across the country

or strike out on their own

after 30

As if the spirit of the pioneers

is so deeply rooted in our national genetic

that every new generation must pick up at a point

and haul out

to start anew

in some far off place

like Akron

or L.A.

or Tampa

as if everyone believes there is something better there

or at least there is something there

             which is not here