I didn’t notice colour or creed only prayer for peace

A strange wild song, all in the golden afternoon, echoes. Titles of Lewis Carrol’s poetic masterpiece.

The blood oranges are no longer crying;
split into partial fractions,
they try
instead to heal with taste—
why can’t it be the same with people?

I didn’t notice colour or creed
only prayer for peace sounding from a terrace garden,
noticed only
young children aged eight
playing amid the flowers and snow, regardless
of difference in religion and faith,
why then, can’t others see eye to eye?

Persistent, the dew of the morning shines,
perhaps it’s trying to dispel the hatred
that fills the atmosphere,
it’s bitter out here, come wrap your words
around me,
I think of Poets turning in their graves,
urging us bleed poems for those affected,
uncomfortable truths
that lash out every time we turn on the news,
is freedom no longer an option?

The luminous side of midnight
proves darkness is only what we make it out to be,
come, let us raise a pen for the perished,
they deserve poetry that’s burns bright,
that turns water holy,
that soothes with jasmine waves the souls
of those lost;
I didn’t notice colour or creed only prayer
for peace; only prayer for peace; only
prayer for peace.

 

 

 

Photo credits: Tulips in the snow, iStock Photos.

Posted for Poetics: Carrol Crush Saga @dVerse Poets Pub

32 thoughts on “I didn’t notice colour or creed only prayer for peace

  1. Bjorn Rudberg says:

    I so wish those prayers for peace could help… I think it might need real actions to get people to see eye to eye again

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Bjorn 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️

  2. Ain Starlingsson says:

    Really like how your poem starts quietly, then just grows, and grows, with lines that make one gasp seemingly casually thrown in: come wrap your words around me, the verse says, and it does….until the numbing, echoing end…

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Ain 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️

    2. I agree with this. You said it much better than I could, Ain.

      1. Sanaa says:

        Thank you so much, Jenna! You are too kind 💄❤️

  3. Jane Dougherty says:

    Blood oranges and snow. Incongruous but vivid. It’s in our thoughts all the time, isn’t it?

    1. Sanaa says:

      Ah yes, they are mostly grown in California, Italy and Spain. Usually in season in winter and early spring. Thank you so much, Jane 🙂 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️

  4. Oh, please, ‘come wrap your words around me…’ I adore this turn of phrase.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Christopher 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️

  5. Your verses are a beautiful prayer for peace and your heart shines, very much like the dew of the morning, there is so much goodness that will beat out the hate, we must always have faith! 💓

    1. Sanaa says:

      Aww gosh! Thank you so much, Tricia 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️

  6. I applaud your call to action, for poets have a sacred obligation to bring to light the evil and inequities in this world. Your words stir me up, and my Muse is squirming like a toad.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Glenn 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️

  7. Tzvi Fievel says:

    favorite lines: “is freedom no longer an option?”
    “I didn’t notice colour or creed only prayer for peace”
    “regardless of difference in religion and faith”

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Tzvi 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️

  8. rog leach says:

    let us all raise a pen indeed. wow what a great poem.
    peace and love
    rog

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Roger 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️

  9. Punam says:

    Your prayer for peace will echo in many hearts, Sanaa! Beautifully rendered, your words wrap around your readers. ❤️❤️

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Punam 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️

  10. Helen Dehner says:

    ~~~ ‘poetry that’s burns bright, that turns water holy, soothes with jasmine’ … let there be peace on Earth … your poem is amazing.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Helen 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️

  11. Dwight Roth says:

    We need to wrap our words around each other with words of peace! Well done Sanaa

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️

  12. Eric Erb says:

    The best thing we can do is refrain from giving our children our baggage

    1. Sanaa says:

      Absolutely! Thanks for stopping by, Eric 💄❤️

  13. anotherKate says:

    <3 This is beautiful.

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, Kate 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️

  14. … I think of Poets turning in their graves,
    urging us bleed poems for those affected…

    WOW, Sanaa – that’s intense!

    Yours,
    David

    1. Sanaa says:

      Thank you so much, David 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️

  15. Sara McNulty says:

    “The luminous side of midnight
    proves darkness is only what we make it out to be”

    Such a beautiful, heartfelt wish for peace.

  16. Your opening line hooked me right away! Blood oranges crying! So vivid, Sanaa, and beautiful imagery throughout to describe the horror and sadness of what’s going on.

    (I combined your prompt with Thursday’s.)

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