Of Peace And Nonviolence

I think about the Camp David Accords /

I think about the Oslo Peace Accords /

I think about the fall of the Berlin Wall /

I think about the exclusionary nature of border walls /

I think about the resonance of détente /

And the power found in sitting down to talk /

I think about peace and nonviolence /

 

I see men never striking women again /

I never see another Cain /

Rise up to strike down Abel / A fellow brother /

I see no more need for COPs /

aka Citizens on Patrol in the city wherein they live /

I see people loving their neighbor as themselves /

I see peace and nonviolence /

 

I hear the poem The Rose of Peace by William Butler Yeats /

I hear loud and clear John Lennon’s magnum opus Imagine /

I hear Sting singing, if the Russians love their children too /

I hear Give Peace A Chance by the Plastic Ono Band /

I hear Marvin Gaye’s singing What’s Going On / 

And Maya Angelou’s poem The Rock Cries Out to Us Today /

I hear peace and nonviolence /

 

I remember the nonviolence preached by Martin Luther King Jr /

I remember Rodney King asking, …can we all get along /

I remember reading where Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers /

 for they shall be called the children of God /

I remember peace and nonviolence /

 

I think / I see / I hear / I remember /

Again / Again /

Lest I forget / Lest you forget / Lest we forget about / 

Peace and nonviolence / 

 

© emmett wheatfall