we toil in toxic soil
planting intentions,
nurturing our contemplated
marinated seedlings of hope
and it feels righteous
downright righteous
is this not the path to peace?
when hope dies in the eyes of
the oppressed and forgotten
how many prayers are enough
for the darkness to fade,
for light to be cascaded
over hate so barbaric?
oh but we sing and we say
we are the world
We are compassionate
you…and me
aren’t we?
we must step off of our
overturned garden crates
weed out our own fears
and act
Amaya Cranston Engleking has joined our team over at dVerse. Her poetic prompt for us today is to “write an epigraph poem (not an official form) in which a quote about global peace, social justice, or human rights is embedded”. I chose the following quote…..
It is not enough to be compassionate – you must act.”- His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Image credit: pixabay.com
mishunderstood 
Powerful!
Thank you, Beverly. ☺
This is such an excellent expansion to the words of Dalai Lama.. we really need to act and move out of our comfort zones.
Wow, Mish! This really says it like it is. Another poem packed with mening from you.
Brilliant work Mish.
I love the internal rhyme in ‘we toil in toxic soil’, the chained rhyme in ‘contemplated
marinated’, the repetition of ‘righteous’ and the echo in ‘fade’ and ‘cascaded’- so effective in conveying the message, Mish.
Very impressive work, and a brilliant poem also.
Ah, Mish, I like this a lot. It’s easy to feel “good” in your own garden, but you are right, we must do good in the world. It works as a poem, too, not sentimental at all.
Great quote and great poetic expansion on the theme.
Oh, Mish. I love this bit, especially:
how many prayers are enough
for the darkness to fade,
for light to be cascaded
A powerful write and a superb rallying call for action. So well done.
Anna :o]
It is good to carry compassion into action.
beautiful and powerful!
Your conviction here is one not easy to hear, but we must, regardless. The image of cascading light over barbaric hate definitely illustrates the kind of vague panacea we all hope will happen by our good intentions, but we don’t know how to make happen by our own actions. Maybe obedience would be a place to start, for however many intentions we plant, there are likely an equal number of excuses too.
A really great poem. You incorporated it very well!
Dwight
Well done! Let us “act!”
I love this!
Excellent quote and poem around it.
I love that quote and your expansion of it…those last few lines are zingers.
I love the message contained in the quote whic you portrayed so well.