‘Who Are My People,’

by Rosa Zagnoni Marinoni
Italian-American Poet

My people? Who are they?
I went into the church where the congregation
Worshiped my God. Were they my people?
I felt no kinship to them as they knelt there.

My people! Where are they?
I went into the land where I was born,
Where men spoke my language…
I was a stranger there.
‘My people,’ my soul cried. ‘Who are my people?’

Last night in the rain I met an old man
Who spoke a language I do not speak,
Which marked him as one who does not know my God.
With apologetic smile he offered me
The shelter of his patched umbrella.
I met his eyes… And then I knew…

Consider this: We are each other’s people under the shelter of the umbrella.