"If we are to teach real peace in the world, we shall have to begin with the children." Mahatma Gandi

As Christmas eve  a-lights the waters of the globe
And half the world rejoices in the tidal ebbs of celebration
Sorrow still bleeds from my thoughts
As a child cries out in hunger
A woman suffers in squalor
A man dies from the brutal hand of another
And the world is not at peace
 
Who will buy me an orange? Whispers the child
Who will sweeten my cup with clean water?
"The Little Match Girl" lives on
She haunts the street doorways
Peering in through our windows
Lit from the inside with starry lights
Illuminating frivolity and plenty
Who will save my starving baby brother?
 With his swollen belly and sticks for legs
 
The refugees with half sunken eyes and agonized disbelief
Turned from our gates
Just as Freedom flaunts her hem
She pulls away her hand and turns her back
Abandoning their pleas
 
 ​Meanwhile the Taliban claims another life
A family drowns as their frail boat sinks
A Syrian child chokes on the fumes of poison
While we prefer not to see
The girl with a pencil writes her name in secret
Lest her Father breaks the lead
 
A young woman wrapped in her veiled cage
Walks escorted through the streets
Pressed in the arms of silence and repression
Like a bird without a song
 
As a wall is steadily built along the boundary
Between freedom and persecution
And Liberty’s torch is extinguished
By selfish and hateful leaders
As if God in his lofty wisdom would condone
 
The Madonna shakes her head
 Her eyes spill tears of blood
 
When the true Christmas spirit rises in each of our hearts
And we teach our children
​to remove the barriers of blind dogma and blind prejudice
Then the Angel of Peace will wake and descend
Dressed in grey humility
And she will knock upon the bones of the earth
And she will break open her breast of comfort
Spilling the blood of compassion from her ribs
 
 
Only then will the river of hope flow with good tidings
Her reflection of love
Mirroring respect, light and acceptance from coast to coast
As a full moon waxes 
Whelping her offspring
And the Earth is reborn once again
 

​by Susan Golden 
 
 
 
 
 

"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."
Mahatma Gandi


Wishing you the gift of love
The power of thoughtfulness
The Strength to stand up for what is right
The ability to act no-matter how small your contribution
And a sense of peace in your hearts 

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas 
 From Womensvoice1