Dear Peace
Why haven’t you called
Are you safe
Have enough to eat
A place to stay
We worry about you out there in the cold and lonely
We want you to wander home like the lost kitten of our youth
Be the surprise in our cereal boxes
Tap our shoulder one day while we wait for the train
Persist like an infomercial we can’t turn off
Croon our heart’s favorite lullaby
It’s summer
We long to feel the rain cool our fevered dreams
Watch the old men nod away the sultry hours
Wallow in fireflies and lilacs
Be happy in our peaches
We’ll keep the light on
16 thoughts on "Dear Peace"
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Exquisite in thought and form. This new series of yours rocks.
“We’ll keep the light on”– amen!
Lots of great images
just 🤍
This is such a profound metaphoric poem for Peace. It lays on the heart, pulls us out of our comfort zone, recognizes those who hunger and are homeless. Where you look for peace is novel. I love this poem of resistance. We cannot stop looking. Yes, “keep the light on.”
Amen! Sylvia, you have done an amazing job crafting a powerful message.
The images in that second stanza are lovely and have such charm
All of what’s been said, but yes…love that last line the most.
“Wallow in fireflies and lilacs” (I love the smell of lilacs)
I agree with all of these commenters. So well crafted. Such a pleasure to read. I find the shift between first and second stanzas – from a parent’s concern to a child’s nostalgia – so effective. Both things out of reach and then brought together with leaving the light on. Great details. Affecting concept. So good.
Perfection!!!1
I love your creative list of the ways we’d experience the return of peace. Also wonderful verbs in the second stanza!
Echo all the comments before me. Especially love “ Wallow in fireflies and lilacs/Be happy in our peaches.
The last line blew me away.
This poem gave me some of that cathartic feelings of being seen. Yes to “We long to feel the rain cool our fevered dreams/Watch the old men nod away the sultry hours…”
Very elegant Sylvia!
I love the lines
‘It’s summer
We long to feel the rain cool our fevered dreams’
Tile drew me in for a revelatory journey. Thank you, Sylvia