welcome

I wonder often
when I wake up,
what makes these eyes
feel welcome?
that they open afresh
to every morn?
what is the invitation
left unwritten
upon these lashes,
heavy and curled
with the weight
of things gone by
and those yet to come?

welcome is not easy
but it is possible,

in an unfamiliar face
without a name,
in skins worn and discarded
by community and solitude,
by love and humiliation,
by faith and betrayal,
by unity and rejection;

welcome is not easy,
but it is possible,

in a world
that comes alive
to a new place
in our eyes,
in our hearts,
everyday,
strolling in
uninvited,
yet always
welcome.