Rachael Stanley – A Prayer for Peace

Stanley LE P&W 4 Nov-Dec 2024

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Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Four November-December 2024

A Prayer for Peace, poems Rachael Stanley.


A Prayer for Peace

Before we cast our gaze outwards
may we first listen to the life force
that connects us to each other
the air freely given that we breath out
and our enemies breath in.

Before we are tempted to linger within
the soothing sounds of silence
may we first try to listen to the laments
and piercing screams of those oppressed
by hatred, by war.

Before we point fingers and apportion blame
before we demonise tyrants and canonise
the afflicted, may we first point the lens
inward and see what it is within ourselves
that we need to heal, to correct.

Before we condemn, preach, wring our hands
may we first use our hands and feet to take action
to help in whatever way we can.

Before we are tempted to march to the
discordant notes of revenge may we try
to listen to the harmony of common ground
to our shared wounds and triumphs.

Before we cry out for peace may we first
recognise our own need for atonement, for mercy.
Before we cry in anger and despair
may we aim to cultivate seeds of empathy and hope.


And Jesus Wept

What did you see
when you wept over
the city of Jerusalem?
What centuries of grief
could you foretell?
What could you see
when you looked
into the soul of humanity?
What must we see
in order to be free?


The Moses Basket

My first born once cradled inside
followed by my second, third and
fourth.
Redundant it lay in the attic —
now a symbol of passing years.

I carried it down steep steps
one last time when the insulators
came to line the attic with fibreglass.

I loaded it into the boot
and all the charity shops
echoed the same refrain
sorry no, health and safety

till a friend reminded me of the
Capuchin Friars on Church Street
so google maps and I circumvented
the one way streets of Dublin’s inner city
to the back of the friary on Bow Street.

A man with a foreign accent approached me
as I stood bewildered looking up at
locked gates on this street
of refuge to addicts and the poor.

I’ve been waiting for you he said
and he led me across the street
to a warehouse of donations
where I parted company
with my wicker womb on this
road to new beginnings.


© Rachael Stanley

Rachael Stanley’s poems have previously been published in Live Encounters, Drawn to the Light Press and many other journals.  Her debut poetry collection, Back to Infinity was published by Revival Press, Limerick Writers Centre in May 2024.  She lives in Dublin.

https://limerickwriterscentre.com/product/back-to-infinity-by-rachael-stanley

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