How will we
find our way back
to consensus?
Let the old folks
show their scars of sacrifice
and tell the stories the photos
on their walls recall.
Stop pretending.
Stop expecting.
Stop hiding
our collective sins.
Stop believing
politicians' lies.
The world they sell us
is black and white
but, in truth,
it is billions of
beautiful shades of grey,
stop hating for a moment...
please JUST STOP.
All of us are hurting.
Breathe in, think,
open your heart,
open your mind,
relish this life, breathe out,
then our Peace will come.
Start discussing.
Start forgiving.
Start being kind.
Start realizing
more than one version
of the truth can exist.
Start agreeing to disagree.
Start allowing people
to have their dignities.
Start practicing love
or we'll all die twisted by hate,
this doesn't have to be our fate,
JUST START.
Then our Peace will come.
When together we relish in
our collective self-worth...
the laughter of our children,
the smell of sweet sage and Earth,
the pine trees after the rain.
When we train our eyes
to see beyond our pain,
This is when the bars
will come into focus,
we will finally see the prison cell
we are all held in
and, together, figure out
how to make a break,
for goodness sake, start today,
then our Peace will come.
~Eric Vance Walton~
About This Poem: This is an older poem of mine that I wrote around the time of the last US Presidential election in 2016. I serendipitously found it today in some of my older files and decided to include it in the new manuscript I'm working on, Mindful Moments: Perfecting The Pause. I did post it on Steemit a while ago so I hope that's not an issue but I wanted to repost it again here on Hive because I feel like it applies even more in today's world. I hope you enjoyed it.
(Gifs sourced from Giphy.com)
*I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.
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