Wage Peace
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Don't wait another minute.
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the word for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries,
imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Don't wait another minute.
I've seen this attributed to Mary Oliver, but the internet says it's really by Judyth Hill.
This is the most succinct thing I've seen in years. I think Ms Moon will like it, seeing as she lives it already.
5 comments:
Oh Jo. You have made me cry.
This IS what I try to do. I think of John and Yoko. War is over if you want it.
Not meaningless words. A prayer. All of it- a prayer.
Thank-you.
I shared this poem with my sister because I liked it so much and she shared it on her fb page. Don't know if you can see it but it's a public page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pearl-Cleage/103365652761
What a find -- I am going to post this poem all over the place. I must read more of what she has written -- thank you.
Lovely!
Holy Crap! This post got 126 views! Where did that come from?
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