By Annette Darity Garber
Recorded by author
With blood still wet in the streets
and guns still held to blinded eyes,
bent down at mamas, papas, children,
anyone with the wrong name, the wrong allegiance,
or lacking the impossible papers,
with bombs still dropping, still buried on the borders,
still blowing the limbs from bodies of brothers
with hatred still rampant
and terror still strangling
hope from the little ones’ eyes
with a people still on the run, still without a home,
still unwanted, forgotten,
how could anyone
ever believe – or even hope –
that peace will reign again?
Such audacity.
Would it not be better
to turn away,
to numb,
to build walls, like the nations do,
at the edges of our hearts,
to give way to despair, or defeat,
or worse,
indifference,
or perhaps to join the resistance,
fighting violence with violence,
a merry-go-round of unending,
re-venging,
ever-losing,
bloodshed?
Or…. could Resistance be this:
to hold the outrageous belief
that flowers
will one day grow
where bullets have been planted,
that sheep
will one day graze
where battlefields now lay,
that feet
will one day dance
where bodies now lie broken,
that healing streams
will one day go
where rivers of blood now flow,
that music will play,
and children will pray
and weapons will be traded for books,
that enemies might yet be called brothers.
That peace will reign,
peace will reign,
peace will reign.
And while we hold this vision as an offering,
this prayer of imagination,
let us also
roll up our sleeves,
dig deep inside our pockets,
build bridges for the ignorant,
tell stories of the exiled.
Let us widen our tables
and invite our refugee neighbors
to our fiestas.
Let us visit their wide tables, too,
kneeling as listeners and learners
to their stories that must be told.
Let us hold hands.
Let us join the revolution of peace-making.
Let us imagine a new way of being human.
Let us be visionaries,
daring to believe
that love will have the final say.
Let us plant flowers
where bullets now lay.
© Annette Garber, 2020
Recorded by Carmen Rumbaut
Annette Darity Garber is a writer, educator, and spiritual companion residing on Lenni Lenape’ land, also known as Berks County, Pennsylvania. Combining her passion for the outdoors, with training in spiritual direction and eco-therapy, Annette seeks to invite others into a sacred and mutually healing relationship with the natural world. Annette grew up with a love for the earth, a curiosity about other cultures, and a passion for justice and compassion for humanity. These themes infuse her writing and give shape to her being and doing in the world.