Jesus on a park bench put me in my place

 Jesus on a park bench put me in my place


It was a sunny day,

On a Friday,

I was off for the entire weekend,

This being my first off,

After clocking the necessary

hours,


I cleaned my house,

made sure I was dressed

right,

casual weekend wear,

the right Nike Sneakers that were vogue,

My picnic backpack was filled up with all stuff for a picnicker,


I got on the 54 and not the 203,

the 54 plied the routes which would get me to the park,

I wanted this break,

I deserved this break,

I was looking forward to this break,

my kind of work,

I am in charge of all laundry at the Special Nursing Facility,

Occasionally,

I am asked the part of the community entertainment team,

I also do other errands,

such as managing the front office at night,

I looked forward to this break,

a paid break,

I felt blessed that,

I could work,

I felt so happy that through

nursing care related services,

I could give back to the USA,

I earned my stay here,

I am confident and happy.


I got to the park,

I looked for a spot far away from the ducks or geese,

I still can't differentiate,

this park is a sanctuary too,

this particular species of birds,

would have disappeared by now,

thankfulness goes to whomever thought of this idea,

people come here for the sound of the mini waterfall,

the evergreen tree shades that sprawl wide,

for the fields that that allow for game and recreation,


I came here some years back ,

when it was not this well cared for though,

but today it is different,

it has a special gravitas,


Wait,

Is that......

a homeless person,

sleeping on "our benches?"

Somebody call the police,

"how is it possible that,

'these' rejects trespass into our space?"


You shouldn't be here,

it is day time,

"people" want to use those benches,

you are sleeping all over the entire space,

can't you go somewhere else?


I noticed the person,

 was listening to all these taunts,

this person looked at me,

well not at me,

but at us,

for there were many gathering,

to condemn this person,

woman or man?

We couldn't tell immediately,

until He faced us,

He rose to full height,

looked sideways,

the thin blanket fell down to the ground,

He bent down as if to pick it up,

but hesitated,

He was writing down our names and places of origin,

we realised we all came from somewhere,

we looked intently at what he was writing down,

I read something like,

we all are human beings,

we are children of humanity,

we have a responsibility to care,

even if that meant making care a political agenda,

Carism as a political agenda,

We had to be nice,

Nicism as a political agenda,

We had to charitable,

Charitableism as a political agenda,

We have to be productive,

Productivism as a political agenda,

I looked at the writings next to my name,

deep in my heart I knew,

I was not,

the type of person to jeer at the less fortunate,

but ,

I stood with the crowd that jeered at Jesus on park bench,

Jesus told me,

stand on the side of love.

I invited him over for a picnic lunch,

Jesus agreed.

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