(1)
around the military cantonment
the way this city has grown:
a camouflage truck, a school bus,
an ambulance,
wait together for a green light
(2)
past Danang and Hue
a few miles from the DMZ
the guide pulls out two cans of coke —
one day soon, he says,
he will move to California
(3)
origami cranes
one, two… a thousand —
waiting at the Hiroshima memorial:
things fall
things rise
(4)
the invisible wars:
the invisible dead:
“what big eyes you have,” she cried,
“the better to see you with, my dear,”
the wolf replied
(5)
on a quiet street
in Luang Prabang
the unexploded ordnance centre —
a grandmother covers
a little girl’s eyes
(6)
downtown Berlin:
in a dozen languages
they ask for directions —
to the topography of terror
to the palace of tears
(7)
at the bottom of every sea
a ship, a plane, a soldier
asking evolution
the same question:
“why?”
(8)
on large banners
in the Warsaw museum
bits of resistance poetry —
outside, a man dozes
in a rush-hour bus
heading to the new old town
(9)
folding a world map
war zone collapsing into war zone
someone will die
from something that will fall
from someone else’s sky
(10)
late March in London
a fog-laden sky
goes from pewter to troubled black
somewhere the sun has set
somewhere the sun has to set
(11)
space and time morph
at yet another border crossing —
she bows under the weight
of an entire lifetime
stuffed into an old backpack
(12)
Kanchanaburi war cemetery
so many people
so far from home:
here lie so many stories
unheard/ untold
(13)
adrift, afraid,
on a refugee boat:
home, already
a memory
limp from cold sea-spray
(14)
ringing in the desert air
children reciting the alphabet
A for anti-aircraft guns
B for bombs, big, bad, bombs
C for compassion that still hasn't come
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These are all incredible. Wish we could turn them all into peace poems.
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Thank you, Sara.
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Powerful snapshots of pain from around the world. Wouldn’t it be nice if humanity could stop adding to the images in that album of horrors and add more moments of peace?
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Yup… though how to be optimistic about that.. 😦
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The image of thousands of origami cranes in Hiroshima will stay with me; the same goes for the thought of a grandmother closing her grandchild’s eye for the last time…
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Thanks Magaly. The UXO centre has exhibits about the continuing impact of unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam war including children maimed or killed. It never really ends for some…
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Sigh.
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That alaphabet verse is for me so poignant.
Look at the world created for children!
Much💜love
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Thanks Gillena… truly, what a mess…
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Very powerful. A fantastic collection. And I ask why? I especially liked #4 and 7.
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Thanks so much, Colleen.
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Tidbits of inhumane side of humanity almost bring tears to soothe even hardest if hearts. Most touching for me was “grandmother covers a little girl’s eyes …”
..
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Thanks so much, Jim.
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Each small glimpse opens a world of tragedy. For me the refugee boat is most poignant of all – because so many have tried to reach Australia, and we have treated arrivals so unkindly.
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I read a book called “No friend but the mountains” by Behrouz Boochani about his journey to Australia as a refugee and how he was incarcerated in Manus Island… a heartbreaking account. It really is a global pandemic of unkindness…
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Fantastic poem. I would like to showcase it on my blog too. Of course attributing you as the author.
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Thank you, Cressida. Please do feel free to share it on your blog. Glad it resonated.
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Each of these is so powerful, Rajani. I especially noted the one about Hiroshima, and the lines “something falling from someone else’s sky.” Wonderful writing. Thank heaven for poetry so we have somewhere to put these feelings.
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Thanks so much, Sherry. It occurred to me that everywhere I’ve travelled, I’ve seen the history of past wars. But our narratives seem so selective, so convenient.
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Oh, Rajani, this strikes so many chords and conjures so many images. Would you permit me to share this with the national chapter of Episcopal Peace Fellowship in the US, as well as my chapter at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland? Or, may I simply forward the email in which it arrived? If not, I surely understand.
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Thank you for asking, please do share with anyone who might like to read it. Am so glad it resonated with you.
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Thank you very much. You are tapping into the pulse of so many. …compulsion/compassion?
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Rajani, the grief seems to rain down in perpetual shifts. Why oh why do humans do such things to each other.
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That’s the question, isn’t it…. and the answer is terrifying.
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Universal, relatable. After quitting Instagram, glad I can still read you here
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Thank you, Sonia. Glad it resonated.
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