I was asked to write poem this weekend for a peace gathering here at Raumati,
Which was part of the United Nations International Day of Peace.

WRITING AN UNFINISHED POEM ON PEACE

What about words like Iraq and Afghanistan?
Yemeni, America, Syria and Sudan
Israel, Gaza, Libya, Russia and Iran?

Strange, so many silky words spell war.
Perhaps I should scan the latest riots in Britain
or find a rhyme for France or Greece.

Far easier to talk of war and peace,
when it’s not in your own back yard.
With someone you love.

After our argument, we’re lost for words.

You drive us to Otaihanga
for a spell of stone-skimming ease.
Only a ripple can measure the surface tension.

We hear some people arguing near the trees.
She’s shrieking. He’s hurling words of hate.
We stop to look back, and almost turn to stone.

The bell is ringing where peace is really born.
We thread our arms together.
You take us home.

ENDS