Veni Vidi Cessi

Veni, Vidi, Cessi
said my brother Jesse
when we arrived in South Africa,
ages 10 and 11 respectively. 
It was the fourth continent we were to call home
and at that point we expected to call it home 
for the same amount of time 
as we had our previous ones; 
around 3 or four years.

I had spent my first years in Boston Massachusetts,
But only my younger sister has the passport that proves it.
My first school years were in Santiago de Chile
But of my entire grade not a single person is left
in that city.
All I have left
is the international accent

A few years and many summers
were spent in Finland
My passport country
my mother tongue country. 
But somehow, even though it is my origin
it is the place I often felt most foreign. 

“We came, we saw, we left” 
Was the thought behind the made up text
And it was what our life had been up until that point
Never stay long enough to settle down, 
And in fact, 
It’s easier to not settle down. 
But the joke was on us,
Because our family never moved again. 

Ten years.

That is how old I was when we arrived.
That is how long I stayed. 

I became somewhat of a local
In the somewhat way kids can.
I joined a youth group
I sang in a band.
I got my driver’s license in the Mother City
But still when people heard me speak,
It would pique their curiosity.
My R’s were too strong
But my “yah” was just right.
I only talked of takkies and robots,
Never sneakers or traffic lights.

It is strange, considering
Half my life spent there until then,
That should have made me at least half South African.