I am not streetwise. I do not have the knowledge born of the rough avenues, of the east-ends and wrong-sides-of-tracks. I know no lingo. I have no contacts. I am not streetwise.

But I am something else.

I am citywise. I am countrywise. I am nation-state wise.

I come not from the rough streets, but from the rough nations. I do not call a small neighbourhood home, but whole nations, even hemispheres.

In my mind it is not gangs or corner stores, but armies and trade deals.

I am not streetwise.

I don't care about neighbours, about mayors, about yard work.

People ask where I come from, and I can say, truthfully, everywhere.

My antecedents are from half the planet, and they stand as a wedge, the point on my shoulders.

I am historywise.

I know what happened in Belarus on 9/11/01

I perceive why it is good that we didn't take Gallipoli.

Whenever anyone asks where you're from, what do they mean? Do they mean where have you lived the longest? Where you were born? Where your family comes from? What your ethnic descent is? Why does it matter?

I am not streetwise.

I am planetwise.

I am a citizen of the world, and it is all my home. Its states are my suburbs. Its ideas are my cities. I move about it freely, both in person and in spirit.

This world is my country, its nations are my streets, and it is to them that I am wise.

I am a citizen of the world. And so is everyone else.