Meditations for Peace

I heard a holy man speak Tuesday
sitting unassumingly and unmoving
crosslegged for hours
on a platform which...looked...hard
Thich Nhat Hanh....
amidst the stillness
of brown robbed monks and nuns...
in a voice quiet and lulling
spoke
of the oneness of people
and the power of thought...
especially a collective one...
sent out in healing...
of taking time...precious time...
to be a 'mindful' person
in all acts of life
and through each deliberate breath...
of taking a walk neither
from here nor to there...
that is
focusing on the walking
not the arriving...
and of how one's ability to listen
to a differing view without interrupting...
even when confusion or anger surrounds...
contributes greatly
to the attainment of peace......
As I close my eyes...and listen...brought
on the edge of a trance
by the singing chant of the monastics in brown...
the sporadic gonging of a summoning bell
and the soft melodiousness
of his gentle persuasive voice
punctuated with humour...
another's words and voice track
side by side and
I vision an earth where
all are brought to calmness and tranquility
even within adversity's glare......
In these moments
only the words and the calming voice
sieve through the silence...except
for an out of place cough or two
intermittently echoing through the audience
as if testing his and our focused concentration...
and time has slipped unnoticed
by this gathering of diverse strangers
here for a glimpse
into this blessed man's sight.........
When his last has been passed
our evening together is completed
with a bittersweet acappella...
an elder sister's verses
both english and french
of a smile she will spread
through the here and the now
into and beyond the next life...
not to ignore or look away from
suffering ugliness or pain
but to dispel the worst
within and around...
bring us to a harmonious earthly path...
and to an acceptance of life
with all its enfoldings...
I cannot but leave heart and mind joined
in the knowing
that the so called leaders of nations
should be compelled to hear
and incorporate these lessons
and that...were the predator-spirited...
disillusioned...evilminded...and selfish...
as well as the kind and loving among us...
to practice the daily meditation on life...
listen to the wisdom earned over time and...
learn these exercises focusing every moment...
on our...humanity...here...on this planet...
peace and goodness on earth would truly come
to be nurtured by human beings
until the last of our days...........