What does it entail?
Leaving the familiar
For a new home.
Having your heart set
In a new hope.
Waking to your last day
Before your trip starts.
Taking in the surroundings
As you sigh
In anticipation
Of what is to come
And in anticipation
Of what you will forgo.
All your neighbors
Friends, family
Forgoing their waves
Their hugs, their smiles.
How they will change
As you are away.
How you will miss them
As you climb aboard.
Taking your first step
Towards a distant land.
How your mind replays
All the comforts
That you have known
As you fall into
A restful slumber
“This life will be better in my new home.”
A blast of cold air
Wakes you rudely
A chill in your heart
As you step off
Smiling faces greet you
In a strange accent,
Barely allowing you
To laugh along at their jokes.
“My new home!”
You smile proudly
You grin, with joy
Overflowing that you made it.
With your life in your hands
You follow your host
Walking briskly, quickly
Elbowing through the crowds.
“My new life!”
You stand in line.
And another.
And another.
People are still smiling,
But their eyes-
They never follow,
Never making contact.
Their faces look worried
That you are now here.
“It will be better here.”
You meet new friends
From all places, all faiths
All colours, all traits,
All having journeyed from afar.
All who have felt close hugs
As much as distant stares
All who have witnessed open conversation
As much as closed whispers
All who have seen those rare true smiles
As much as the scared, worried frowns.
“The streets are beautiful!”
Some say, “welcome,”
And open their doors
Others say nothing
Still angry from a past foreigner
Who had raped their sister.
You want to say
That the man should be tried as a criminal,
And that criminals exist in all groups,
Not just immigrant groups.
Even in King David’s family –
There was Amnon, and poor Tamar.
You say nothing
They say nothing
As you pass by
To stand in line
And another
And another. Sunset.
“This is a new life!”
You take photos
You cook food
The way you know how
And eat with others
Who have journeyed with you
A girl says she is afraid
To bring your food to school
“What will they say?
I don’t want to be different.”
You wonder what she means,
As you think differences are good,
But we all have the same need
All get hungry,
And all need to eat.
Are not all equally in need of bread?
Are not all equal
In the eyes of God?
You read Galatians 3:28
Asking why then
Would your neighbors
Who know to love God
And love you
Will mock
A little girl’s lunch?
Did God not feed
Five thousand or more
With
A little boy’s lunch?
“Today is a new day.”
Another line awaits.
Another piece of paper.
Another stamp
“A proof of your identity?”
Asks the official.
You wonder what he means
Does not my identity
Come from God?
“Imago Dei”
You reply, and get waved away
With a puzzled frown.
And you wait in line.
And another.
And another. Sunset.
A protest outside your window
No time for coffee
Must see what the anger
Is doing to people
Your friend stops you
Advising that it is better
To stay safe
Away from the streets
“But I need to go!
I need to stand in line
And another
And another!”
“I want to use my skills –
What my family has taught me
I want to use my gifts –
What God has given me
To share with others
To make a living!”
“But these protests
Are about you.
They say you are here,
Killing!”
“So far, I have killed time
And nothing else
So far, I have my hopes
And nothing else
So far
I have come
To live a better life,
Nothing else!”
The banners are written
In a different language
You can make out the words
You have learned while
Standing in line
And another and another.
None for today, it is sunset.
“Yes I am happy, yes I am eating well.”
The messages
Are getting monotonous
The content less heartfelt.
But the messages are your only reminder
Of the hope you once felt
Corroded slowly by
Yet another protest
Outside your window.
You ask God
Why no one gives you
A chance to labor
To become a part
Of this new home
Why few look your way
Acknowledging your humanity
“So where then do we go?
Our home is desolate
So we left to find hope
It is desolate from exploitation
Hopeless from hunger.
Are our lives worth less than yours?
Why then are we exploited?
So big companies can profit
And we can struggle to eat?
Why then are we rejected?
So nations can go back to their illusion
While their neighbors waste away?
If we go back,
We go back to hopelessness
If we go back,
We will spend time together,
Knowing we have nothing else to spend.
If we stay here,
We stand in line
Proving our identity
And earning angry stares
As our wages.
If we are here
We walk the streets
Feeling alone and less than
What God has made us to be.”
“So where then do we go,
But to God.”
“Imago Dei.”
You wonder- if all humanity
Is made in the image of God
Then all humanity
Deserves love and respect
As we are fellow creations.
Your frustration fades
As you walk outside
You smile and nod at
Female and male
Believer and non-believer
Workers and bosses
No matter their response.
You embrace your friends
Standing in line
“No line today.”
You say happily.
You pick up your tools
And start creating
Making beauty
With whatever God
Brings your way.
