“Making Peace”
by Denise Levertov
A voice from the dark called out,
‘The poets must give us
imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar
imagination of disaster. Peace, not only
the absence of war.’
But peace, like a poem,
is not there ahead of itself,
can’t be imagined before it is made,
can’t be known except
in the words of its making,
grammar of justice,
syntax of mutual aid.
Read the rest of the poem here.
Please be sure to visit Sally Murphy at her blog for the Poetry Friday Roundup.
Reading to the Core 
Thank you, beautiful Catherine: What a gift is your poetry to me and to the world.
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] lets her eye find solace in nature in her poem this week. Linda Mitchell has haiku to share. And Catherine Flynn shares “Making Peace”by Denise Levertov, “The poets must give us the imagination of […]
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing this lovely poem encouraging peace that “can’t be known except in words of its making.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a great poem, and so true. Thanks for sharing it. Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Catherine, may it be so! “an energy field more intense than war”
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wonderful poem you’ve chosen to share, Catherine. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing this powerful poem, Catherine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a great poem of peace and raising a voice for making it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh to have sweet peace. Thank you for sharing this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing this beautiful poem. It is perfect for this week.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is beautiful and just perfect. the lines that really sang to me were: ‘ A line of peace might appear
if we restructured the sentence our lives are making”. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love love love this poem, which gave me the striking line for one of my favorite of my own poems ever…https://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/2017/09/let-peach-begin-with-me.html
And I’m with Sally above: the crux of it is seeing how and being willing to “restructure the sentence our lives are making,” to revise the story of humankind.
LikeLike
I love that phrase, “the grammar of justice…” Something about that just feels right. Grammar is orderly and helps us make sense of words and requires following some rules–but also making exceptions. Just like justice. Thanks for sharing, Catherine!
LikeLike
So timely. Thank you, Catherine!
“each word/a vibration of light—facets/of the forming crystal” – gorgeous.
LikeLike
Catherine, this poem…I’m copying this one in my notebook. How beautiful…so many lines are like those flower stems that hippies used to put into the gun barrels of soldiers. I needed this poem today. Thank you….this is my first flower stem I’m carrying with me into today:
But peace, like a poem,
is not there ahead of itself,
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing this poem, Catherine. These lines are a call to action; ” ‘The poets must give us
imagination of peace, to oust the intense, familiar
imagination of disaster.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a big fan of Denise Levertov, thanks for sharing her rising voice–so timely still today!
LikeLiked by 1 person