How dare I - who am I, to paraphrase his beloved work...his vision and wisdom put forth in one small book? A masterpiece - the face of his soul on the cover of the little black book on my bookshelf..I read it again, it bears repeating, so the world can hear...
When a storm comes
and winds shake our worldwe wonder how to navigate the discord?
And when the serenity of the hills
gives us peace, how we exalt each new day!
But in our souls we sometimes struggle
between right and wrong,
justice and injustice
On the other hand, we sing melodies and praises
of all that's right and within our reason
How are we to be
our own peacemakers
when the battlefield is within ourselves?
For without one, we do not understand
or know how the flip side might be
The other side of the coin,
so to speak, clashes; therefore
the rivalry between good and evil
All creates a battlefield in our souls
where we misplace our common sense
Reason becomes fused with appetite;
appetite fuels passion that smolders
In the sea of reason, our judgement
wages war against oneness
Our sails and rudder broken, we drift or burn
Destructive fears and pain
take the place of reason,
and turns around passion in our sails
In spite of nature's propensities for violence
and inhumanity, our faith fails
Instead, let us me mindful of balancing,
attending to our Yin and Yang
Let us direct our energy
to live and breathe love and faith
to cultivate passion with diplomacy
i just left a comment at georgesplace for debi...on if we could survive if peace broke out...i think if peace ever has a chance we have to make peace with ourselves...still our minds...let go of some fears...and allow reason to have a place....learn to live with our own emotions...then we can be peacemakers....
ReplyDeleteGroovy piece. It really all is about the battle within. Love the title.
ReplyDeleteAh.. so much the same sentiment as debi. the real battle is within ourselves.. the border between good and evil cut the human heart in 2...
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your inspiring and positive lines, Kathy. Winning the battle within is the first step toward more sustainable peace. The closing stanza is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem sometime like some of the most important battles are fought in our souls. Hopefully good will reign in the end. Enjoyed this, Kathy. Thought - provoking.
ReplyDeleteSo many answers within--peace, diplomacy, homeostasis between instinct & morality, controlling the dark passenger that resides behind our spleen--gosh, I'm just too old, too sarcastic, seen too much, felt too much, lost so much & so many that the white light between your lines of poetics just barely hits my visual emotional spiritual spectrum. I applaud your beautiful soulful heartfelt stab at a solution, do not judge your motives, love your love, but still......
ReplyDeleteI am so ready to give peace a chance. : )
ReplyDeleteI like this part very much:
ReplyDeleteHow are we to be
our own peacemakers
when the battlefield is within ourselves?
And the turn to light & hope in the ending ~ Good one Kathy ~
I agree that the basic battle field is within...human nature !
ReplyDeleteVERY cool response to the prompt. The first and last battlefield lies within. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteLet us direct our energy
ReplyDeleteto live and breathe love and faith
We sincerely hope and yearn for peace. It is a tragedy that peace is so elusive much less on what to do once peace is achieved. Mankind is so bent on conflicts that peace is just thrown to the winds. Great write Kathy!
Hank
loved the hope of peace throughout... great follow in your poem
ReplyDeleteyou've really captured that inner battle we all must face
ReplyDeletedestructive fear and pain do take over for reason and cause wars, you are so right
ReplyDeleteBorn to Strife and Contention
i think only in knowing both sides we manage to find that way to love and to use our energy to make the world a better place...
ReplyDelete