House and home

Let the warmth 
of knowing you're safe
and sound
wrap around your shoulders like a soft blanket.
Let the gratitude for your place in this world
and the knowledge that no matter what
you will have a home
comfort you, in your times of despair,
console you when it seems you have nothing else,
give you shelter in the storm of stress 
and busyness that is daily life.
Let the walls that surround you
provide not only a house
but a home,
no matter the color of your skin
or whom you may love
or how you see yourself
or what gender you are.
You deserve a roof over your head
and a place where you feel safe.
Whether you have wronged
or not,
whether you come from money
or nothing,
you will be welcomed with open arms
and smiles like the summer sun,
for we cannot fix the hurt
and pain
and suffering in the world
by creating more hurt and pain elsewhere.
We cannot truly win 
by cutting others down.
In the end,
we have to embrace the people around us
and lift them up,
hold them close,
and help them belong
in the places where they feel they don't.