Peace

I did not realize the potential this piece had when I first wrote it. But I am never one to say my words are worthless, so I wrote it laden with all the stereotypes of world peace and every clichéd depiction of failure and triumph, topped off with all the images of finding oneness after so much inner turmoil, and determined to revisit the piece later.

Peace is such an important message for a world that makes the news everyday with reports of conflicts that produce a staggering number of casualties. Iraq, Iran, Darfur. There are so many parts of the world outside the Western Hemisphere that have never known tranquility, places on the map that have been in the business of struggling for change for centuries too long to count. I hate to think of the children who will inherit that, who were born in the arms of struggle and will never know the alternative.

After attending the World Peace Forum in 2006, I came back inspired to do something that would change the world. It’s the part that I love the most about taking up the causes that matter to me: that feeling that you are part of a movement that is contributing to the betterment of society. It energizes me so much that I feel I could take on anything. Like standing atop a mountain knowing all you’ve done to get there, screaming at the top of your lungs and hearing your own voice resonate. Such serenity, such peace.

I wanted to keep this poem simple and understated. Peace is about small things, basic things we take for granted that make all the difference in someone’s quality of life. Everyone has a right to experience peace; it’s the only thing that makes the struggle worth fighting.

Peace: in response to the World Urban Forum, June 2006

Peace is
Knowing that your struggle will end
Tomorrow there will be a place for you
In this world.

Peace is spontaneous laughter
Carefree joy
And never
any
tear
drops on the pillow.

Giving free reign to your dreams
And never
Offering childhood up
In sacrifice.

Peace is
Safety
Freedom
Childlike abandon
And never
Feeling like the world
Is closing its shutters
On you.

Reward after you’re sore
From moving mountains
And never the frantic search
For the light
At the end of the tunnel

Peace is
Emerging from the dark and letting the sun
Flood your soul
Like
Rebirth.

Peace is coming in from the cold
After so long away
From home.

Peace is
Finally breathing
Release
Relief
Rejoice:
There’s a place for you in this world at last.