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Posts Tagged ‘peace and justice’

Peace: more than a 150 word Acrostic

Posted in poetry, tagged , , , , , , on March 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Peace is its own reward. Mahatma Gandhi

Please, this is a request not to be limited by a form or definition. Let these words fit more than structure. Let someone, somewhere, speak and another listen. And the word pass along from…


ear to heart. If peace happens in the middle of a sentence, let there be no criticism that the form was imperfect. At night, if a dream…

appears, after too many hours of news, and your presence results in families fed because you offered them food even though you didn’t know their names, backgrounds, or addresses. You know nothing about them.

Come, waken. See the poor and the hungry in places five or six miles away. Open your pantry. Find what is excess for you, yet another tomorrow for a neighbor. We can become hope for tomorrow for them,


essential for change, a better world. Inside more than an acrostic of exactly 150 words.

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Fog, Sun, and Hope

Posted in poetry, tagged , , , , , on July 14, 2024| Leave a Comment » 

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Fog, Sun, and Hope 

Bare, black trees stand out inside a low cloud, fog.
Headlights hide the vehicles they lead

until they arrive close enough to be 
seen by other drivers. 

In political fogs fact and factoid blur. Alternative facts,
lies that wear well-constructed masks. Fear wins.

Each lie repeats often enough to be used as light beams for 
followers. The mask asks folk to scoff non-believers.

And the non-believers respond with taunts, point out stupidity,
lack of logic, inconsistency. A no-win war begins.

In the natural world, sun, blue, and clouds reappear. 
Black trees remain leafless. Headlights become optional,

a choice. Drivers can see without them. Can eyes open 
and human roots join for change? Must fog live in all seasons?

Or can sun live despite fog? As headlights point out need,
can drivers carrying hope respond with an ear instead of censure?

Yes, I hear where you stand, those who would
destroy the poor and give to the rich, but I disagree. 

Peace for the world.
 Eventually. Please.




Originally written in 2019


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After the Bomb Blast, a poem

Posted in poetry, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2024| Leave a Comment » 

There are two days in the year that we can not do anything, yesterday and tomorrow .
Mahatma Gandhi 

After the Bomb Blast

Where is the cameraman’s face, 
as he zooms in on the hungry bleeding child?
Is the small boy frightened of a creature
carrying a camera? Does that person
bring bread and bandages? 

Then the camera moves to the next atrocity
and delivers sensationalist stories for the 6 o’clock news?

On the other side of the screen 
viewers chew carryout pizza 
and wait for the next commercial
to get more beer from the refrigerator.

Where is the cameraman’s face?
A minute-long film
can’t tell the full story. Somehow,
may the captured moment ignite help
and not more hunger and pain.  


originally published in For a Better World 2024

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One Less War, Eventually

Posted in inspiration, tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2022| 1 Comment » 

An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. 
― Mahatma Gandhi

Men willing to break their own arms
rather than race into fire and death,
war games played without winners.
The news spreads in endless loops
on screens with color but no dimension
while some watchers gasp, yet
others pass a bowl of snacks,
grateful the pain strikes in another
language, continent, time zone.

Human beings willing to reach
beyond a huff or pant. One country
touching another. One person
letting peace stretch beyond a closed
room. We will not let war
cage the world with hate. Or apathy.
Or depression. It will take time, but,
let us discover peace. Together.

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