It's easy to forget
we're all immigrants
without any claim
to this space or time,
wayfarers,
both strange and poor.

It's easy to forget we're being hosted
by a gracious Innkeeper,
who endlessly overlooks
our unwillingness to clear the table,
the clothes we leave on the floor,
the lack of "thank-yous" and "I'm sorries."

Before we send others
back to their countries of origin,
perhaps we should return to our own,
where God reigns,
and love is the only rule.

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Original art by Ludmila Pawlowska. Visit her website at www. ludmilapawlowska.se. From "Icons in Transformation."