A Poem for Peace

If you tell me there is another side, opposite yours,I will believe you.

There are so many ways—

Right and left,

Up and down,

Diagonal, zig-zag, and spiraling

Across all the sides of this 360-world we live in.

It is important to see, to acknowledge

All of them.

If you tell me that other side is your mortal enemy,

The source of all evil,

The one thing that needs to transform

For peace to reign again,

I will ask you to look more deeply.

Can you look past your truths and reasons

To catch a glimpse of theirs?

Can you turn your gaze for a moment from their shortcomings and failures

To your own,

And back again?

As you begin to trace that zig-zag path across our world,

My friend, you will begin to see it:

Right here

And left there,

Inside my heart,

And in yours—

Our shared humanity.

And all these sides,They trace it beautifully—

Our common ground,

Our place of meeting,

A potential for new creation and growth.

Come meet me there.