Homeland

Day Nineteen


I prepare the many new books for shelving
Dozens of titles present varied cultures
I see the faces of humanity
Busy at work, joining in play
Pride in their families
The weather-worn skin of many shades, and eyes of many colors
All within the same borders;
What are borders really?
Humanity does not live and love within square miles
Life has not been easy
And I wonder why their people have treated them so carelessly
And I wonder why our people could never imagine
Life so grippingly fragile
And I wonder why the world lets itself go on so
And would it be any different
If we shifted people around the continents?
Whole populations to begin again in new environments
Waterfalls for those who have only known arid land
And cities for those languishing in isolation
But I turn the pages, and I can see
Misery is not geographical