Sitting at this keypad interface I feel the need to apologize to anyone reading this. I cannot capture any of the things that I love with words perfectly enough for you to know how it is to love them as I do.
Nor is it possible to give you a late night
Followed by a morning start at sunrise
Two coffee mugs full of yogurt
Sweetened by the honey from a single type of Albanian wild flower
Cold water breakfast
A quick walk in the morning heat
Bus less crowded than you expected
Hurk, jerk, lurch and stop to the city center
Tirana
Another quick walk, more heat
Another bus to a van filled with friendly, sturdy people
Sleep as you can in the heat in the back seat
Fushekruje
To a place you have been before
A place with a bathroom you can trust
Double macchiato and time with the journal
Your friends gave you in El Salvador
Passing a friend on the way, you buy his coffee
He did not expect that
Now at the job site
Greeted by friends and a few acquaintences
There is a lot of crushed rock to move
Ervis has lost a family member
He and Egim will be at the funeral today
You express your grief
Wondering how anything will get done
A man named Pierin has come looking for work
Of course this is God’s hand
The end of the work day
Brings shape to some things
Tightens and sharpens the reality
What will be
What this place will look like
Your friend’s wife has prepared
A meal to prove their love for you
At the door
Remove your steel-toed boots
Roll up your Carhartts
Rinse your feet in the freshest water
Wash your face and head in it
Come inside to everything they wanted to give you
Ask for anything you like
They are honored that you feel honored
The more you take
The taller they sit in their seats
Take our fig tree’s finest fruits
To taste and to enjoy
As you leave our home
Please promise you will come back
albaniacalling 