For the sake of peace…
May prejudice dissolve into fine burgundy wine,
Making us drunk, instead, on respectfulness.
 
May the coarse pollen of aggression be collected on the legs of bees,
Delivered softly onto the hearts of spring’s potential blooms,
And transformed into vast fields of wild flowers.
 
May our hate be sucked out of us
By the kind daggered beaks of hummingbirds
And metabolized into thousands of ruby throat feathers.
 
For the sake of peace…
May our radical, closed-minded viewpoints sprout wings,
Rise from their too-comfortable nests
And soar above us dropping bombs of tolerance and understanding.
 
May doubt and mistrust be kneaded into sweet dough,
Risen by the yeast of love,
And baked into hearty loaves that feed the starving
Rather than starving our souls.
 
May we all put down our cell phones
And spend our days looking into each other’s faces,
Listening to non-digital voices,
And communicating through flesh and bone and empathy.
 
For the sake of peace,
May our trance of consumerism get up tomorrow,
Put on working clothes,
And go to Congress to lobby for the legal rights of Nature.
 
May our religious dogmas put on flannel pajamas,
Have a sound night’s sleep,
And wake up tomorrow having forgotten
Why holding on so tight was so important.
 
May our “reality” TV politics fold up their podiums,
Put on their blue jeans
And head down to the food shelves,
And soup kitchens, and shelters
To hand out dinner, and blankets, and hope,
And other real things.
 
And,
May our beliefs gather together tonight and every night
In a prayer circle under the stars
Where they can all see heart-to-heart,
And soul-to-soul,
If not always eye-to-eye.
 
For the sake of peace.
Elissa Cobb
Bristol