- Peace One Day -
From the West Bank to East Berlin,
Hiroshima to Ho-Chi-Minh,
From the Boer War to East Timor,
Kosovo to Alamo -
Hear the children cry in pain,
Turn the page, another stain –
History book’s been written red,
Another people, broken, bled,
Another chance for peace –
Dead.
From Ypre’s fields to Stalingrad,
Falklands to the old Yugoslav,
From Afghanistan to Sudan,
North Korea to Chechnya –
Watch the poppies, trodden to mud,
See the Tigris, run with blood –
Another war begins to rage,
Don’t be quick to turn the page –
Change must come, come what may,
Together we’ll look for another way,
Together we’ll make peace,
Peace One Day!
Salman Shaheen
This poem is dedicated to the Peace One Day campaign, launched by film
maker Jeremy Gilley in 1999. The campaign, which has won support from
Nobel Peace Laureates, artists, musicians, religious and political leaders
and millions of people around the world aimed to make September 21st an
International Day of Peace, a day of global ceasefire and non-violence.
Officially recognised by the UN General Assembly in 2001, the campaign’s
most important task has only just begun – to let the world know!
www.peaceoneday.org
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