Be Where You Are

Just, you know
Like it's not my intention
To give you advice
But
Right now
I can see you're in Romania
Maybe many Romanias
You might be caught
In several different Romanias right now
And not even know it

That's why it's important
To be where you are

Because, sometimes
You're, like
Making love to someone
It could be anyone
And you're looking up at the ceiling
Thinking, I should make soup after this
I should go home and make soup
And years later
When you're older
And you miss the body you had
And the things you could do with it
You won't miss the soup
And you won't miss the ceiling
But you will miss the, well, you know
So, be where you are

Even now I can see you drifting off

You might be in 1968 right now
Which isn't the best year
Even for daydreaming
I'd prefer you be in 1999 or 2085
But not 1968
That's practically an insult

Just eat the food you eat while you're eating it
Look at it
Say this is a ham sandwich
Maybe write a little poem about it, like--

Oh ham sandwich
I'm glad you're here
I just wish I were old enough
To drink you with beer

You say you're twenty-one, but you're not
Not right now
Right now you're seven, and maybe four and a half

That's the danger
Of being other
Being In the Other
Instead of Where You Are

Be where you are
And then you can have a beer
And vote
And drive
And play basketball
And eat cookies at midnight
And join a stamp collecting club
And be amazing

Because as long as you're here
You're really quite wonderful

But when you're somewhere else
I'm not sure what you are
At all