Sarah with…

A Proclamation for Peace by Kim Stafford.
Sarah requested the little book she is holding the last time we met. We read it together today. Stafford's poem is translated into languages read by many poets. You can use a scan code from each page to listen to the readers. 

Proclamation for Peace
       
Whereas the world is a house on fire;
Whereas the nations are filled with shouting;
Whereas hope seems small, sometimes
      a single bird on a wire
      left: by migration behind.
Whereas kindness is seldom in the news
      and peace an abstraction
      while war is real;
Whereas words are all I have;
Whereas my life is short;
Whereas I am afraid;
Whereas I am free—despite all
      fire and anger and fear;
Be it therefore resolved a song
      shall be my calling—a song
      not yet made shall be vocation
      and peaceful words the work
      of my remaining days.