Ludwig Knaus, “Peace,” [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“I many times thought Peace had come
When Peace was far away—“
–Emily Dickinson (Full Text here with original.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
—Martin Luther King, Jr.
With seeming wit, some may cackle
and let Rome burn,
But (with wits intact), I wonder
(Can we be honest here?)
How many notes must be taken
to perfect the art of war?
What tests must be performed?
Would it not be better to note,
to test how
not to kill
not to hate
not to hurt the innocent
not to believe the lies?
It’s a simple question.
What do you think?
A new test. Peace.
Let’s try it, shall we?
An era of love,
instead of hate,
If nothing else,
it would be something new.
Be a trendsetter.
I used Secret Keeper’s Writing Challenge to create this poem for World Peace Day, September 21, 2016.
The prompt words were: Wit/hurt/note/honest/test
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
Peace is not a new test, but it is hard to sustain. Thank you for another call for peace to prevail. Once again, great use of the prompts, Merril.
Thank you, Marian! 🙂
Good morning, Merril. Your post reminded me I’d planned to write on World Peace Day today, then totally forgot in the wake of Sasha’s trauma, the Chincoteague foreclosure, and my identity crisis. Yet, isn’t that the problem with peace — good intentions go awry as we react to the stimulus of the moment? Peace takes more than good intentions; it takes a commitment that I am not sure I find any more. I see a nation committed to action, committed to DOING SOMETHING; when peace, to me, demands the opposite: “Don’t Just Do Something; Sit There.”
Yet, we can’t give up, throw in the towel, walk away in dismay. And so I shall Sit again. For I can only do what I can do. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, Janet. We do what we can. I’m not sure that writing poems helps in any way, but it’s what I do. 😉
Thanks Merril for writing about World Peace Day. I pray for peace every day. Is it possible? Perhaps it starts with each and every one of us. From the micro to the macro. I love MLK’s quote, may it be emblazoned on our hearts and minds.
Thanks so much, Susan.
It has to start somewhere, right?
Reblogged this on Balanced Exchanges and commented:
May I share this on my blog.? This is beautiful! thank you iadvance-
tammy
balancedexchanges.wordpress.com
Thank you. I’m glad you liked it.
If they don’t do as you say I regret I’m going to have to take things into my own hands. I shall become World Dictator and though benevolent I shall not be kind to warmongers. People will not like me in this job.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
That made me laugh. Thanks, David. Huge hugs back!
So very lovely Merril, both words and artwork. I found it very moving.
Thank you so much, Holly! I’m glad it moved you.
Very much so…so timely!
🙂
I like all the punctuation in this–question marks, parentheses–the conversational tone that makes it seem that this huge thing could be so simple.
Thanks so much, Jennifer.
I wish it was that simple–like Mother Earth could just say these words and make the kids listen.
What a marvelous idea! A trendsetter for peace. YES!! ☮
Thanks, Rose! 🙂
Definitely a sense of humor is intact, while we are all trend-setting Peace-niks! 🙂 ❤
And wouldn’t this be a great trend to start? You’re not cool unless you’re for peace? 🙂