"I am trying to check my habits of seeing, to counter them for the sake of greater freshness. I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I'm doing." - John Cage


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

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.