People returned secretly at first
One by one until they become a long line of seekers
They are those who are pulled by desires they do not understand
Remembering how abundance had rained upon them once
They remember tasting food from a table of foreign delicacies
They had secretly loved and wanted more of it
But to their peers and to their allies
They pretended to despise the table
Choosing instead bland gruel lacking flavour, colour and nutrition
They turned up their nose at the foreigners
Their wisdom
Their skills
Their wealth.
They returned to their gruel, expecting to find satisfaction again as they had once before.
But they had to forcibly swallow and choke it down
They checked with the cooks
Who looked at them strangely – No one had ever complained before…
They added sugar
They added salt
They added cream
And although it helped a little
It did not satisfy
After all gruel is gruel
Boredom and dissatisfaction grew
And slowly, slowly
One at a time
They looked toward the foreigners and remembered how nice it had been
How fiery, satisfying, interesting and vibrant and warm it had been.
But pride held the loudest of those who had laughed to sit with the gruel forever
But one by one, those who had secretly loved and desired the foreign table, visited the foreigners in secret
They sat at that table again so they could taste the riches and the wealth that they brought.
Knowing that by doing so, they would be forever changed and that is what they hoped for.
