Sam Adams was lonely
But being lonely
Came with the territory
Of being a nomadic ESL teacher
In a foreign land not his own.

He had landed in Korea
Spend his misguided youth
Teaching, wandering the streets
Sampling the food
And culture.

But he always
Felt like he was a stranger
In a strange land.

One day he left Korea
Where he had finally
Learned a modicum of Korean

Finally, had a few Korean friends,
and foreign friends,
Even fallen in love with a girl
Or two.

But nothing happened
In the end,
He was still a lonely foreigner
Living in a strange land not his own.

Went to Japan
Found himself again
A lonely foreigner
Living in a foreign land.

Finally, he had enough
Went back to his homeland
Found that the loneliness
Would never leave him alone.

He was in between
And would never
Get over
The essential loneliness
Of his lonely life.

He was always
Going to be a stranger
In a strange land.

Until the day he died,
All alone at the end,
Of his life in this lonely world.