ACTUALLY I AM HOME

ACTUALLY I AM HOME….
You only heard of heat and dryness
Of the plain valleys and wild
Of the barrenness and poverty
But this is where I live
And I am home

Perhaps you would call it destitute
Sleeping in villages so poor
Going to the wild for preaching
Risking my life for people
Eating food so strange
Yet I would call it home

I am so tucked with country lives
Where sun dries up when it strikes
Where water floods the place
When the rain pours in buckets
I travel them all with my bicycle
And reach the land and meet people
Simply because I am home

Some of the footpaths seem no ends
Yet people meet me on the way
Clear my path when they are bushy
Boil water for my tired body
Cook maize porridge
To comfort my hungry stomach
Simply because they made me feel
That I am home

By day there is the magic sky of blue
With clouds that form objects, me and you
At times I lay down on grass
Getting amused by their forms
Get lost in mind and wander alone
Yes, I am home

By night electricity is absent
I walk in the dark or with candle lit
I chat and laugh with people
Dance with children
With drums and sticks
And they always say to me
Father you are at home

The thatched houses are often my shelter
The soil is often my bed in the village
People give me the best of their poverty
Simply because I am home

Perhaps it is impossible to think
Why my soul is engrossed with these
Poverty and hardships loom around
Yet my soul finds its home
They are memories recorded by heart
Life is demanding
Yet I would call it home…..
FR. RAUL TABARANZA

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