War And Peace

• Christie Aucamp-schutte, Grade 6
• Poetry
• 2009

Quiet and tranquil
Clear blue seas, soft, warm sand.
No hate filled minds,
No envious eyes,
Just love. No tears,
No death, No loss,
No regret.
It is a strange world,
Compared to our own,
But a perfect world. It can be achieved.
People start with themselves.
They cut out the hate.
They move on to others.
Trying to convince them to throw away their guns,
To not hold onto hate.
They don’t listen.
They can hear you but they choose not to.
They continue to bomb and shoot.
Killing mercilessly.
Not sparing a thought for the people lying dead on the ground.
Until one day. They are hurt themselves.
As they lay on the ground gasping for breath,
They cry for help. The others hear them.
But they choose not to listen.
One chooses to help them.
A young boy of 13.
For someone so young
He has seen so many terrible things.
Deep psychological traumas brew in his mind.
The boy helps the dying soldier.
The soldier tells him to stop fighting,
To throw away his gun,
To stop bombing,
and make peace.
The boy can hear him.
He chooses to hear him.
He doesn’t block it out.
He listens
and makes peace.