Peace

(Written for the 2013 Beacon Peace Awards)

Not the solemn still of silence, but a swell of expectation,

Not nostalgia for the past, but reverence wrought through true remembrance,

Not a wistful wish for blessings,  but hope's confident elation,

In a vision which transcends the blinding pains of past descendants.

                                         

Not a placid pause in speech, but choir's clamoring of voices,

Never restful, but eventful with the day's demands and questions, 

Not the absence of concern, but calm content in honest choices,

As a whisper cuts the din to tell the truth of hard-learned lessons.

Neither aimless, nor made changeless, but proceeding with direction,

Towards promise to mankind as yet unspoken, which still beckons.

Not just love for one another, but a vaguer great affection,

For a world we cherish in our hearts but have not come to reckon.

Like a melody un-resting. A poetic phrase unfinished,

With a straying cadence that eludes conclusion through it's speaking,

Like a treaty, penned forever, inks sustained and undiminished,

Peace must never find its measure, but proceed forever seeking.

For wherever there is need, our kindness must not once desert us,

'Till injustice is but vanquished, 'till the lowest souls are risen,

 Let us not claim peace on earth as long as peace still serves our purpose:

To be architects of heaven, through the tools which God has given.