Still Support We Can Offer!
POETRY FORMAT, 23 May 2022
Jocelyn Wright - TRANSCEND Media Service
We sit helplessly by as opponents to peace
Decimate Ukraine
One town after another
On diverse devices, TVs, and radios
Forgetful of our shared humanity
Meanwhile, to our North
Another dictator
Spews threats
And fashions weapons
We know we could be next
And we should not stand idly by…
Prayer alone won’t work
What can we do?
Helping Ukraine might help us, too!
As expats,
Though demonstration is illegal,
Still support we can offer:
International petitions we can sign
And home governments we can persuade
Peace-promoting causes we can endorse
Donations we can send for humanitarian aid!
Refugees we can protect
Activists and victims we can assist
Nonviolent and nonkilling actions we can encourage
Hate speech and dehumanizing ‘Others’ we can resist!
How DO we bring all people together?
Through creative contemplation
We might imagine compassionate ways
To mediate conflict
Achieve reconciliation and
Focus on prevention
If only we try,
Peace, nonviolence, and nonkilling,
We CAN achieve
In what we think, say, and do.
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Jocelyn Wright is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Mokpo National University, South Korea, where she has served for over a decade. Her main areas of academic interest are applied peace linguistics and peace language education. Email: jocelynmnu@yahoo.com
Tags: Poetry
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 23 May 2022.
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