Different, and the Same

Different.

Starkly different. 

Public busing. 

Crammed beside a stranger. 

Dripping sweat together. 

Trees and plants, 

Unnamed to me.

People,

Strangers. 

Faces and names I do not know. 

Ways of living,

Of surviving, 

Learned anew.  

Yet not different.

Still people. 

Still needs. 

Still working together. 

Still dying to self. 

Still seeking Christ, together. 

Not better than

Or wiser.

Just different. 

And the same.

Just people.