An apology for a blog by Sandra Horn

 This is dire. My pc is crashing every few minutes and trying to reboot, which doesn’t work. It will be on its way to Magic Kevin the Mender Man as soon as I finish this. It’s taking forever just to get this far! Rather than failing to blog at all, at short notice, I’m just going to copy in a couple of poems about peace in between the gaps I can’t remember if I’ve put them up before, but if I have, I’m sorry. Desperate measures. Peace seems like an appropriate topic at present.

 

The day peace came

Some claimed it was foreseen, foretold

In Tarot cards, in holy writ, in portents –

The blossoming of a sacred tree,

A halo round the moon,

A rainbow in a cloudless sky.

Who knows? It came so suddenly, in silence;

The silence of no guns, no bombs,

No shouts, no screaming.

No-one slapped a child,

Wielded a jack-knife, swore,

Strangled, kicked, mugged, raped.

But what were we to do? What now?

We wept, at first.

We wept, and could not meet each others’ eyes.

How to begin again? Anew? We did not know,

Then the first hand reached out...

 

From Write to be Counted, edited by Jacci Bulman, Nicola Jackson and Kathleen Jones

 

Ruling the World

I should like to rule the world; I think it’s my turn now

I could make things so much better and I’m going to tell you how:

I’d melt down all the guns and bombs and all those evil things,

And turn them into bicycles and carousels and swings.

Turn them into roller skates and bongo drums and bells,

Make spinning tops and glockenspiels from all the tanks and shells.

Fill the world with happy things that make a happy noise;

Shout it all around the earth: Don’t make war, make toys!

 

From Lines in the Sand edited by Mary Hoffman and Rhiannon Lassiter

Comments

Bill Kirton said…
Commiserations, Sandra. Been there, done that (although the reaction from me was sulking and moaning rather than lovely poems). Thanks for such necessary reminders of what's still possible.
Umberto Tosi said…
Hope your PC gets well woon, Sandra! Thank you for the lovely, thought-provoking poetry in the meantime!
Peter Leyland said…
Great poems Sandra. I love this response to our current world woes. Thanks for a welcome post
Julia jones said…
I rather hope your PC breaks down again. I think snatches of lovely writing are exactly what's needed. Thank you very much
Sarah said…
What beautiful poems - thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed them especially the idea of making carousels from bombs - such a wildly happy image.