I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
into your life with the tenderest of hearts.
Your kindness reached places in me I’d forgotten existed,
brought them to life again
after so many years of hiding.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me
gave me safe passage to this land of beauty my heart always yearned for,
its foreign fragrances becoming familiar in a heartbeat.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me
with your many radiant hands protecting my body so I could heal
knowing safety for the first time.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your arms,
so supple and sensuous, I knew I would feel deep love there,
I rested for the first time in many years.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me to your table
fed me the food you made with your hands
the way your ancestors have nourished generations.
I was fed in a new way,
felt my strength returning.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me
and through your embrace I have changed you as well.
Because of me you feel the brutality of the world,
the pain of starvation,
the crushing hand of dishonesty and oppression.
Through me you remember the great struggle that continues.
I was a stranger and you welcomed me
now we are no longer strangers,
now we remember the family we have always belonged to.
There will never again be strangers in our world.
