Thursday, December 15, 2016

5 Pieces on Peace


i.
Peace is a red 
lipstick 
I slip on 
a rainy night

ii.
Peace is a kettle 
whistling steam & tea
as snow outside
heavily coats
pine and maple trees

iii.
Peace is a cheap pen
I scribble
on corners of free metro paper
with words
without syntax

iv.
Peace is a wet rug
I clean
the walls
riddled with bullets
the floor
red with broken bones

v.
Peace is a paring knife
cleaving away the skin
and bones of history 
only the seeds remain
to be scattered
by the birds


Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight ~  Wishing everyone peace and light in the coming holiday season !  Take care and see you next year !!!!

34 comments:

  1. Ooooh, a mix of things peace can be, some less palatable than others... I do wish the holiday season could bring real peace, but alas!

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  2. I love this... the complexity and sacrifice that's needed for peace... really the bones to be picked. If peace is nothing else than a cease of fire, then I always wonder what remains afterwards. A timely piece.

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  3. This is soo beautiful and eloquently penned, love "Peace is a paring knife cleaving away the skin and bones of history
    only the seeds remain to be scattered by the birds"

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  4. Peace sometimes comes at a price and yet peace can exist in all the simple things. Beautifully written Grace, the simplicity of 'Peace is a kettle
    whistling steam & tea' is gorgeous. Thank you for all your hosting and for your support and I wish you a very blessed festive season and a very happy and peaceful new year xxx

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  5. I especially like these sections:

    "Peace is a cheap pen
    I scribble
    on corners of free metro paper
    with words
    without syntax"

    "Peace is a wet rug
    I clean
    the walls
    riddled with bullets"

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  6. Peace is so illusive & often impossible to sustain. I love #4 & #5 stanzas. Is it man's arrogance, greed & bellicose nature that complicates the mix? Perhaps--but world peace is like a cure for cancer, achievable but hidden.

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  7. I love this, Grace. The second one made me feel warm inside, the fourth was a punch in the gut and the final stanza summed it up so well - excellent!

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  8. I love your vignettes on peace, Grace. I have to agree with Glenn. Peace is achievable but kept hidden because there are those who profit from the lack of it.

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  9. Wooh! Love the way you pulled me in here Grace towards such gritty and meaningful denouement - love your telling finish too - a virtuoso piece, for sure...

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  10. Peace to you and your family, too. Thanks.

    Greetings from London.

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  11. Such stark contrasts between the various stanzas. I was settling in with contentment at the second one when you jerked me out of my complacency with the 4th.

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  12. Yikes!I agree with Victoria...
    ZQ

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  13. Playing with our minds a little.
    That last stanza had me worried
    Well done

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  14. Beautiful verses, love the tea kettle analogy especially.

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  15. I love the last stanza best. It leaves me hoping that of the seeds to be scattered, the healthy ones outnumber the sick.

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  16. Didn't see the 4th coming. Yes, peace can be a messy thing.
    I know I'll be thinking about this poem. Beautiful words, and mind, Grace.

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  17. Love the end. Peace and light to you and yours ❤️

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  18. loved this....such depth and imagination.......great!

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  19. Peace sure always seems to come at a cost. Hopefully you have a peaceful holiday season.

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  20. Like this very much. The takes are so varied - and I like the order -- from red lipstick (a cosmetic) to the floor covered in red bones -- stark reality -- to seeds - the smallest grains.

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  21. A crescendo of perspective here from peace easily attained in the little moments of life like a warm cup of tea all the way to peace being nothing more than a pause to clean up the destruction. Wow. It seems we were both thinking about peace for the last OLN this year. Wishing you a wonderful, peaceful holiday for you and all those that you love. xo

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  22. Grace, these are so powerful and vivid, especially the floor red with broken bones.May 2017 be better than 2016. My best hope. Peace to you and yours, dear friend.

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  23. So raw!! No lipstick on this pig, ode to the times we're living in. Nice work.

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  24. So raw!! No lipstick on this pig, ode to the times we're living in. Nice work.

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  25. A beauty and calm in your juxtaposition of words here, Grace. You have captured so much in these lines.

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  26. Wow. Some of those toward the end had me feeling not so very peaceful...
    A bit of a punch there.

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  27. What can I say, the last stanza revealed it all, it was so desolate in its accuracy and beauty.

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  28. Lovely. I especially liked part 4...it was clear that there was violence, but there was the peace in the cleaning up...of restoration.

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  29. I love this...yes, peace comes in several shapes and forms :)

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  30. only the seeds remain
    to be scattered
    by the birds

    That is how it has been mistreated and nothing seems to change!

    Hank

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  31. Grace you certainly exposed the dichotomous nature of peace. Sometimes it does come only as an aftermath.

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  32. Very well articulated. Peace. I wish we achieve world peace in my lifetime.

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  33. Good job on this one. Sounds like Peace is comfort, and like the band Boston said, "All that I want is to have my peace of mind..."

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