I love remembrance day. I appreciate the time it gives the world to pause, reflect on past wars, the lives they cost, and pray that “never again” will one day come true. This year, I encapsulated that hope in my shortest poem ever:
Let “never again” become so obvious we never have to say it again.(http://crypeace.org/news/never-again)
Amen.
I also wrote a poem from the...
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I don’t want our kids to meet at encounter groups, to learn to empathise with the “other”
I don’t want them to hear of the Holocaust, to learn how our homelands became our graves
I don’t want them to talk about the Nakba, the right of return, and how long it takes
I don’t want to fear that in my nascent country, we risk annihilation again
I don’t want to fear that in my exile, we risk losing the...
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Let “never again” become so obvious we never have to say it again.
Carole St. LaurentRemembrance Day, 2015
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It was 10:50 PM when I returned to the monastery on my first night in Rome. Tired after over 36 hours of flights, buses, and a leisurely evening out, yet energised by the adrenalin of starting a month-long adventure, I shared the highlights of my evening with Sister Leopoldina, the elderly nun serving at the desk until 11PM. Diminutive in stature, but gigantic in spirit, we picked up the threads...
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I’m in Rome! I was so eager to settle in and see the sights that every delay sorting out transportation downtown required double patience. Finally, I found the non-descript door on the non-descript street of the non-descript monastery. The welcome, however, was wonderful! Sister Leopoldina, a native Spanish speaker, and I, a native English speaker, found a common language, French, in Italy. We...
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I’m on my way to Rome, the first stop on my September peace quest. I’ll spend the night in a monastery, then the next two nights in Assisi, to centre myself for the rest of the trip.
Walls are the metaphor for this trip. I’ve been fascinated by walls since my trip to Israel and Palestine last November. The separation wall made a big impact on me, and I’ve been dreaming of...
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Should I throw love over the wall instead of stones?
Chocolate kisses
Valentine hearts
Gifts on the strings of balloons?
Will you take the chocolates for stones
Respond with tear gas
Burn my eyes and nose?
I want to tear down this wall
Look into your eyes
And know you as friend, not enemy
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I want to dance at the wall in beautiful protestCast a vision of the future in its shadow today
We could hear the same music, dance to the same beatBut I couldn’t see you, our hands couldn’t meet
We could set up a webcam, make a window in the wallI’d rather you open it, I want to walk tallthrough the gate that encloses me now like a prisonLet this vision of the future shine...
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Modise Phekouyane used to be an angry, hateful young man who considered Nelson Mandela a traitor. Today, he embodies forgiveness and reconciliation so that neither he, nor his former oppressors, will remain victims of apartheid.
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I live in a cage with very prevalent wallsthat block me in and hide the sun
I rail at them, throw rocks and stonesMust you respond with bombs?
You hold the power of whether I can wash, or workWhether I can skype with my aunt, or visit the day of her birth
You say yes to my brother, and no to meMust you put my parents in such misery?
I rail at the wall with rocks and stonesYou hold the power...
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