Breath of Peace

Please call me by my true names
So I can see that my joy and pain are one
- Thich Nhat Hanh 

 For a while i struggled with this thought: How can i practice mindfulness and meditation and find peace and happiness, while there is so much peace and injustice in the world? This poem came out of that contemplation. It is dedicated to my brother in the Dharma and activist friend Tom.

When i breathe,
let me breathe
for Eric Garner
and all those suffocating
under discrimination
and oppression

And when i breathe,
let me breathe
for the officer
who only knows
how to react to challenge
with violence

When i walk,
let me walk
for the child in Gaza
who can no longer walk home
as he lost both his legs
in a bomb explosion

And when i walk,
let me walk
for the soldier
who does not know 
how to walk in peace
but sees enemies everywhere

When i eat
let me eat
for the mother in Darfur
going hungry
to save the last scraps of food
for her starving children

And when i eat
let me eat
for the multimillionaire
sitting at a lush table
clogging up his arteries
with meat and dairy

When i smile
let me smile
for the victims of sexual abuse
their trauma inflicted upon them
through generations of conflict
and domination

And when i smile
let me smile
for the autocrat
who sits alone in his gilded palace,
his power a thin layer of make-up
covering his loneliness


How can i find rest
in a world full of unrest?
How does the bird
continue to sing
while all around
forests are being razed to the ground?

Who shall sing
songs of hope and love
while gun explosions sound?

Is happiness in vain
in a world full of pain?
Where does the sun
find the courage
to rise every day
when the night is so dark?

Where does the light hide
after the flame dies,
who will catch the spark?


Let every breath i take
be for peace
and every step
say ‘justice, please’

Every meal
for equality
And every smile
for all beings to be free