Truckee’s International Peace Day Celebration: Collaborative Peace Poem Project

In celebration of International Peace Day on Sept. 21st, For Goodness Sake hosted a Peace Day in the Regional Park.  At my table for Tangled Roots Writing I collected a few words about Peace from many many people.  Here is the collaborative poem that grew from those words:

 Inhale, Hold, Exhale

1.

Commune with the trees

outside the window, birds

that stare from their branches, 

the homeless man

that sleeps in a doorway.

Silence the thoughts

of dishes with your name on them,

finding a daycare provider,

all the other "ands."  

Listen to the sound of a pendulum clock.

Still water, cool and fresh,

mountain lakes, warm salty ocean, waves lapping,

crashing. Sunday afternoon

at your grandmother's house, the whisper

of golf.

Respect

tangled roots, iridescent wings,  movement

from here to now. Peace

is an unknown entity.

Rain,

a warm breeze

blows through the aspens,

snow floats on a cold winter night,

a blanket of green

encircles the earth, a piece of me.

Watch children play,

a river flow

and a garden thrive, a silent

cliffside trail, a summit

in mind.

Sit on grandmother’s porch, listen

to the rain fall.

Peace is freedom

from worry.

Begin within, pour outwards -

belong in this world.

Peace is a purple New Jersey!

Peace means happy.

2.

Learn –

the mountain looks blue today.

Explore the possibilities:

compassion

for your fellow earthling

that tailgates,

for yourself when you swear at him.

Soften,

creature of intention.

Forgive love:

wise and unconditional and blind,

the passion of dolphins, open

and hearted, full of mind.

3.

If you want peace, a piece of me,

work for justice, feed the hungry.

Love.

Play.

Listen to the call within.

Connect with the earth’s crust,

the vibrant colors of rock and tree,

around and around. No fear within,

surrounded by surprise.

Peace is not

an absence of war

but instead

an absence of strangers.

Can you hear me?

When the compassionate

heart wins over the mind

and you love what is before you,

maybe the peace in you

will help the children get along,

help the world have peace,

a harmony with hands holding each other up,

singing and serenity

throughout the whole universe.

Peace is a deep breath.