I blend in,
but not quite.
The moment I open my mouth,
people eye’s widen,
‘he’s not from here’,
a split second of thinking,
followed by a wide smile,
wrinkles around the eye and all,
‘you are most welcome’.

Some ask,
‘what brings you here?’.
I’ve lived in places where people asked me that question and you can sense the exclamation mark,
here, the undertones of don’t stay aren’t felt,
just curiosity and maybe an urge to tailor-make the hospitality to my condition.

planes fly in with bombs,
hundreds of thousands flee their homes,
my own country not willing to take a stance and put pressure so that the carnage would end,
but the warm welcome remains,
the kindness grows stronger as the cruelty intensifies,
and I find myself saying,
this feels like home.