Conflict Inequality and finally Peace

Poetry is relatively new to me, that is poetry that represents art.  After taking a creative writing class last winter I found  a new interest in reading and even writing poetry. What has inspired my new love is the way poetry has the ability to look inside of me and define what I am unable to say. Words line up one in front of the other and work to explain complex emotions that would not be so clear in any other format. This last year has brought freedom to my life as I have discovered I am not the only one with passionate beliefs about the world I live in. Any experience can become a thing of beauty if it written in a poem. Poetry has allowed me to grow and given me a new understanding of everything I read, not just the poems.

I have also taken an interest in the pursuit of national and global peace. What I have learned in this process is that peace is not as simple as the absence of war. There are many aspects that are ignored or neglected when it comes to solving the conflicts we face every day. We are living in a time of cautious optimism when it comes to solutions needed to solve the conflicts that surround us daily. It is a time of active war but we are also living in a time in which people are more aware about their part in the quest for peace, and more willing to act on it.

My anthology focuses on the causes of conflict and the endless search for answers as we dare to hope for a world that is more peaceful. The collection of poems are arranged in a way that takes us through the process of acknowledging what the results will be without a sustained effort towards this goal. I chose poems that stirred emotions inside of me about aggression, fear, racism, oppression, loss, conflict, inner peace and finally hope for the future.

It may seem strange to start out with a poem such as Fire and Ice but I think it is a bold statement. The line that catches my attention is, “if it had to perish twice”, I find this line so telling because often I think that we believe that we will have a second chance. It is time we take the end of our existence seriously as we will have no other opportunities once we have gone too far. As you read on there are poems that offer insight to other causes of conflict and offer answers to the problems we face looking towards a more peaceful existence.

Anger and misunderstanding are a good starting point and in The Poison Tree you can feel the man telling the story does not understand the man who is different from him in the line, I
“was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.”

It all begins with insight, looking into what is not the same as your beliefs and making an effort towards understanding. This is so important to reaching the goal.

Education is likely the second most important aspect of attaining a peaceful community. I chose The Illiterate by William Meredith because I could feel the frustration and anger of the man who could not read a letter addressed in his name. How he imagined all the wonderful things that it could have contained, these events he imagines are also the things he could have achieved on his own had he only learned to read. Now he was only, “ashamed because he has no other means.”

Relationships are instrumental to a peaceful community in The Mending Wall and The Alphabet of Ameliorating Hope relationships are represented in a way that allows the reader to stop and think about their part in making positive actions towards knowing their neighbors and in the end respecting them as well.

One of the biggest interferences to peace is the presence of fear. Often fear is something we create in our minds without any reason to do so. Charles Simic captures well the contagious nature of fear and how we allow it to control us. The last line of the poem reveals the presence of danger is not always there, “and there is no sign of wind.” Without fear in our lives it is quite possible there would be no war.

Oppression, Racism and inequality are all behaviors that should never be tolerated, and can be reversed with a simple change in the way we value people. War as well is related to the way we think about people. Just because someone lives their life differently than our does not mean they are not worthy or valuable to this world. Diversity should be encouraged and accepted by all.

In the end there is no reason to give up on hoping for and seeking peace daily in our own private worlds. As we practice mindfulness gradually we all can come to a place where we have the ability to offer solutions to the conflict they feel and the anger that it breeds. Knowledge is the beginning step from there we must take action towards all of the groups waiting for our help and support.

As you read the following poems I hope you will take the time to think about all of the ways you can contribute daily to the quality of life of another,  especially those you may not understand. It is all of our responsibility to be mindful of and to teach others that we are all in this together and its time we respond with passion needed to have a more peaceful world.