War Or Peace Poem by Nereva Notswa

War


Who likes war?
Not mothers who see sanctuary of home shattered, husbands, sons maimed in mind and body, daughters raped.
Not wives who see loss of strength, stability and reason.
Not men who see fear, grief and desolation.
Not any of us who see everywhere mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters and babies.

What is war?
Words.
People hearing commands, pushing buttons.
People fighting figures stripped of the humanity of brother and sister, father and mother.
Misery covering happiness.
Greed taking over from generosity.
Stealth creeping up on openness.
Selfishness forcing regulation.
Regulation driving out Law.
Independence shattering community.
Violence and hatred filling hearts.
Darkness covering light.

Am I helpless?

Can’t I check impatience rising within me?
Can’t I stop, once, what I want, now, just once and then once more and once more?
Can I not accept light that comes as a smile?
Can I not be grateful for the gift of effort and time by those strange and familiar?
Can I not accept what I have?
Can I not give, just a little bit now, perhaps a bit more tomorrow and the day after?
Can I not see the light in people’s eye and smile?

What has smiling got to do with war?

Is a smile not a particle of love?
Love is stronger than anything.
Love is stronger than everything.
The light of Love can only be covered, it is never absent.
In the face of fear we can at least experiment with smiling to strangers and forgiving our nearest.
If we keep it up for now and an hour and a day and another day and another...
Who knows, darkness might lift, the command to push the button might never be spoken.

At night, is the sun not reflected in the moon? Is it not coming back in the morning?
In winter, is the sun not behind the clouds and will it not return undimmed on a frosty day?
Is not the sun all the more delicious for a rainy cloud?

More than the sun, the light of love is ever present.
How could the light be known without the cover of darkness? How could we yearn for love without the cover of denial?
Darkness can be pierced by words of Truth acknowledging the light. The more words of Truth, the more Light.
Love can be made visible by giving love. The more giving, the more love.

If we are really motivated, if we are really determined and really strong,
We might sit down for one hour, let feelings and thoughts come and go.
Especially let them go, not go with them.
If help from All-mighty is needed, we can ask and it will be given.
When body, mind and heart are still, at last, the light of love expands to fill every particle of the universe without limit or end.
Love!