detail from new mexico cemetery statuary, artist unknown
SUKKAT
SHALOM
(Shelter of Peace)
by
Kathy Miner
Mother
to mother,
let
us take it as a vow:
I will not raise my child
to murder yours.
Not in the name
of
a nation,
not
in the name of a god,
not
in the name of money,
not
for anyone
or
any thing at all
will
we allow them to be trained
in
the ways of killing
their
own kind. These sons
and
these daughters, who catch their essence from us
but
spin it daily
into
a new existence
beyond
our imaginings --
let
us stand arm in arm
in
a unity of womanhood
and
shout in one voice We do not give them
life
that they might take it
away
from one another.
That these beings
who
grew beneath our hearts
and
forevermore live within them, these babes
whose
soft secrets we know and
whose
names we chose
from
the music of the universe –
let
us cry from all the rooftops
that
we do not suckle them
for
the warmongers,
do
not feed and clothe them
that
they might put on uniforms
and
be taught to forget
one
another’s humanity.
That
I will not be the cause of your weeping
nor
you of mine. We can do this,
we
are mothers, we can make it happen
for
once and for all: by the power of love
let
us stop
the
making of war. Here is a length of rope,
there
a bit of canvas: let us pitch a tent of
peace
where
all of our families
may
dwell.
~
first published in the Capital Times
