A Poem for Peace on 9/11
Give Us Our Peace
Give us a peace equal to the war
Or else our souls will be unsatisfied,
And we will wonder what we have fought for
And why the many died.
Give us a peace of accepting every challenge –
The challenge of the poor, the black, of all denied,
The challenge of the vast colonial world
That long has had so little justice by its side.
Give us a peace that dares us to be wise.
Give us a peace that dares us to be strong.
Give us a peace that dares us still uphold
Throughout the peace our battle against wrong.
Give us a peace that is not cheaply used,
A peace that is no clever scheme,
A people’s peace for which men can enthuse,
A peace that brings reality to our dream.
Give us a peace that will produce great schools –
As the war produced great armament,
A peace that will wipe out our slums –
As war wiped out our foes on evil bent.
Give us a peace that will enlist
A mighty army serving human kind,
Not just an army geared to kill,
But trained to help the living mind.
An army trained to shape our common good
And bring about a world of brotherhood.
Langston Hughes
25 August, 1945
Great poem, Laurie… thanks for sharing. xxx
Thank you Laurie.. a great Poem xx
On this day I think of all the families who still had their sons or daughters alive and well. And now…..the grief they are going thru. The pain they feel every day as something reminds them of their loved one.
Blessings to our soldiers that are still standing their course.
Blessings to our gold star families who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
May they all find peace
“Let their be peace on earth and let it begin with me…”
Great poem, but pie in the sky I’m afraid.
Human nature ensures it will never happen
An ideal we should aim for, at the moment it may unattainable but that should not stop us trying