Stranger than fiction

you set us free
from our addictions
to stress, to money,
to work, whatever -
strange
how quickly we forget
and move back into
those old neighborhoods.

you stock our lives
with the Bread
which never goes stale,
handing us that Cup
which always overflows -
strange
how we think
our shelves are always empty;

you polish the Table
tilll it gleams with your grace,
you are busy all night
preparing the feast -
strange
how often there
aren't enough chairs
for everyone;

we expect everyone
to know us by sight
and call us by name -
strange
how we haven't met
those who just moved in;

we assume you
are just like us -
strange, isn't it

how we don't see you
in the stranger?

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman