Marking International Poetry Day (21 March 2020), a group of young poets and Voices of Youth contributors write about the power of peace. Their poems are a cry to end violence against children, and a message of support to the children and youth affected by conflict.
Annie is a Voices of Youth blogger from South Africa. She wants a better future for children across the globe and for their voices to be heard. You can read her content here.
I need not know what death feels like to understand the pain
of all the widows and orphaned children who lost their fathers in vain.
The sobbing of the broken and the pain deep down below
is lessened not by fools who claim that they are all heroes.
What could we be fighting for that is possibly worth
all the hate and all the tears and the destruction of the earth.
They say they love all children, but will send them off to war
to only die on the battlefield at the age of twenty-four.
We march along the streets with our signs held proud and high
to quickly be dismissed no matter how loud we plea and cry.
I hope that someday, somehow, we will achieve peace
and that we can all unite under these collective beliefs.
I’ll keep wishing for change and maybe it will come
I just hope it will, before the war also turns our hearts numb.
