(I do not know if I would have gladly followed Jesus if I was the teacher of the law who stated “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” and Jesus reply was “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head”

My reply would have been… so you homeless? (Do I really want a homeless Jesus?)

So this poem was inspired by this verse that maybe Home is not a place but who we are with.)

When they ask

what is home to you?

I tell them

home is never a house, a building, or a structure

It’s two eyes and a face

Where love is palpable

It is a mother’s arms spread into living rooms

To accommodate each and everyone

Her home-cooked meals will send you singing hymns to heaven

Because y’all know there’s nothing like your mother’s chapatis on a Christmas Sunday Morning

Home is a heartbeat

When you are feeling beat

By the burdens of this world,

You come and rest

Lay your head on their chest,

No need to stomach what you can’t stomach

Leave your performance at the door

Here, we lay naked in our truths

Here, you will find confessional laughs,

honest truths and healing hands.

Home is their eyes

A window to their soul

When they open the blinds

For you to be seen

Their presence, an escape

A vacation spot

The place you will always travel to.

And what is home if not the gift of family, the Joy of community and the smile of friendships

to even those whose blood is not of the same roots,

Who open up the doors to their hearts and we call it our home

So to whatever or whoever you call home

I hope they bring you peace,

I hope they bring you Joy,

I hope they bring you love.

And just like every home ain’t perfect

it can stretch you and cost you

I hope you stick around enough to know they are worth following.

Jesus is also worth following

-Nzilani