To the peacemakers...today we are challenged..

For dversepoets.com today we are asked by Anna to write something about catastrophe.  Like many, I am wary of the ugly news, politics as usual, and general slow decline of humanism.  First I re-posted what I wrote two years ago on 9/11; then I added what I wrote today, paraphrasing what President Obama talked about at the interfaith service in Boston.  I was struck by the girl in the children's choir who was fighting back tears and hope she/all will heed his words of optimism, even though it's difficult to be other than angry, depressed, and pessimistic.  This is not the idealistic world I grew up in - it's dangerous.  How can some sleep at night for not passing legislation that we all deserve?  First and foremost, we need to move protect and prevent more innocent children, men and women (families) from being killed.  The poems soft perhaps, the deep anger not released here, as I don't have the energy today.

by klr 9/11/2001

                         Hear Them                          

In a mist of confetti
souls floated away
Incense of their innocence
their lives were betrayed

Heaven bent lights honor them
Pools soothe aching hearts
Wreaths and speeches give tributes
Doleful bagpipes impart

But for a lasting world peace
candles and prayers are not enough
Heed their breathless cries

Put neon stars out tonight
Find the true rose of justice
So no more will die

~~~~
                                                                           

by klr on 4/15/2013

 Today we are challenged                                         
- wherever we might be, 

the peacemakers -

children of eternity,

channeling grace
 into our broken world

Today we are challenged
- to build together,

in generations to come,

a strong spiritual community, 

inspired to help others,

toward a faith richer, denser

Today we are challenged 

- to repair together, 

for our spirits are part of
the realm of something bigger,

to reconstruct and renew
in spite of pain and despair

Today we are challenged

- to heal and endure,

revealing the best that we are,

extracting strength from weakness,
 lifting up what's good
in the face of terror

Today we are challenged

- to give of ourselves
in the form of hope,
compassion and comfort,
beyond
hate, fear and violence

 For the peacemakers,
great is the reward,
for our suffering -
drawing this world together
 with the power and grace
to love,

God's last word