Patience

It has taken a long time
to reach this point.
It will take a long time,
it will take hard work,
it will take faith and change,
it will take patience
to reach another, better point.

22 August 2011
Shire on the Hudson 

Get home safe

It happens almost every night.

I shut off the computer,
turn out the light,
and leave the office.

I walk down the hall to the elevator
and push the call button.

When the cab arrives, I push "1" and head downstairs.

Hector is always there to see me out.

Sometimes we talk about weather or family.
Often we talk sports.
[Conversations got interesting when
my Steelers beat his Jets.]

Then I head for the door,
and I hear Hector's final words:
always the same
always in the same, kind voice:

"Good night, Marko.
Get home safe."

Get home safe.

We live in a world where so many have not a home but
a tent in a refugee camp
a blanket in the back of a car
a cot in a shelter
a mattress in a brothel
a root of a tree
a spot on a subway grate;

a world where so many homes endure unsafe situations:
domestic violence
sex trafficking
war
exploitation
persecution
occupation

In such a world, Hector's words come as
a blessing
a benediction
a prayer that the day may soon dawn . . .
and a challenge that we work for that day . . .
when
every one has a home
every home is safe
and we all travel there safely.

Get home safe.

May it be so.