I Got Here As Soon As I Could

Got Here as Soon as I Could
--- Big Frank Dickinson

"I wasn't born here, but I got here as soon as I could." ~ Bumper Sticker


I wasn’t born here – I was born there;
And few there rushed to get there
Because there is North Dakota.
Those who came, came slow;
My great grandparents took a ship
From Odessa and arrived in their forties.
Maybe that was as soon as they could.
My other forebears did it in stages
New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and then – at last - NoDak,
With trunk stickers that no doubt said:
“I took my own sweet time getting here.”
I myself got to a lot of places as soon as I could:
Arizona at the age of 19;
Minnesota (moving backwards as far as my ancestors are concerned) at 24;
Budapest (busting through the iron curtain) at 29;
Poland at 30;
Then as soon as I could in succession to
New York, Japan, Texas, Singapore, and Washington.
But it wasn’t really as fast as I could,
It was rather when it seemed right.
I also left those places – when it seemed right.
Nobody has a bumper sticker that says:
“I left here as soon as I could”
Because that would indicate that you
Were still here, making it a lie.
“I got out of there as soon as I could”
Would leave everyone wondering where is there.
I might be here to stay, where I am now,
But I still wouldn’t say;
“Got here as soon as I could”
Because
I didn’t.