A Poem About Peace

My friend Mark called and said he needed a poem about peace for an event at the high school where he works.  Did I know of any?  Could I help him find one in a very short amount of time?  I started an internet search and realized that there were just too many poems online to sift through.  A bit overwhelmed, I looked out the sliding glass doors of my apartment, and was struck by the beauty of the scene.  ”Now THAT is peaceful,” I thought.  And then I began to write…

OUT THIS WINDOW

by G.M. (Bud) Thompson

Out this window
Against the backdrop of a snow-covered field
And barren tree limbs
And brown leaves that seem
Reluctant to relinquish their grip
On the host who has nurtured them
So well for so long,
Birds gather at a feeder
To sample the simple fair
Which may not be the rich bounty of summer,
But is more than can be found on the
Frozen, snow-covered land.
They feast gladly.
It is simple,
But for them, for now, it is enough.

Out this window
Against a sky that is half clouds and half setting sun;
Like the world it envelopes, which is also
Part gathering gloom and
Part unrelenting light and beauty,
Different kinds of birds perch side by side
And take what they need to sustain themselves
From this common vessel,
Which they know they have to share,
Otherwise they will starve in the cold
With nothing to feast on but their pride.

Out this window
There is peace.
And I feast on it gladly.

I also know that out this window
There is cold
And war
And injustice
And hardship
And struggle
And anger
And fear
And death.

But right now
Out this window
There is peace.

And I feast on it gladly.

I realize that the time will soon come
When I will have to do what I can do
About all the other things that are outside this window.

But right now,
In this moment
In this place
In this window
There is peace.
And I am reluctant to relinquish my grip,
Reluctant to surrender my place on this perch,
Reluctant to let the sun set on the nurture it provides.
It is simple.
It is enough.
And hopefully it will help me become
A moment of peace
In the midst of everything else that is
Out this window.

(© 2009 G.M. (Bud) Thompson)

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