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.
Fatu Kaba is a 21-year old from Liberia. She is passionate about using entrepreneurship to solve human rights issues such as education, healthcare, women empowerment, poverty, and climate change. She wrote this poem in collaboration with Janetta Konah, a 23 years old Liberian who is passionate about promoting a reading culture in her country. She lives in Monrovia, where she collects words and moves through her daily life on the wings of poetry.
Oh, how I wish to cuddle in peace
to dwell in love and unity
like the conference of forest embrace the mountains
and the mountain holds the earth
Oh, how I wish for peace to ripple
through the world like a river with many curves.
All around us, anger and greed has clouded the world
hatred and bitterness has eaten to its core.
like a lightning bolt, death and destruction
strikes through our cities
the woeful wails, and whines, and weepings
of war wanders on the winds
sorrows seep from the seams of our soul
as we hang our heads in agony.
The quest for peace is absolute
but so much have been said and dreamed,
and not much done
it's time we silence the gun
it's time we turn our foes into friends
not just with mere tolerance,
not just with the absence of war
but with love for ourselves, each other, and the world
it's time we blend and become one.
Peace is calling to us, billowing
like a sheer white curtain at a window
It is the lens of life we need to see
that despite our culture, country or color
we are all the same, descendants of the earth
children of the universe.
If peace is what we pray for
then peace is what we should give
like a blooming sunflower, it's how we should grow
holding our hands together in harmony
in a relax and calm state of mind
peace should be how we live.
Oh, how I fantasize about a world
where all can roam happy and free
a place where the path of peace is laid out,
where love waters the earth crust
where rainbows of kindness kiss our cheeks
where I can dance in rays of hope
where there is no difference between all human soul
where I can be me
a world where peace is the way we are.
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