Return to me the blue skies
Let me fly freely without fear
My wings not singed
By sudden clouds of fire.
My frame not shattered; my heart not stopped
By deafening explosions
Let me sings songs of peace
I know not any songs of war.

Return to the child her beloved doll
So she can play house like always
Though her home no longer stands
 Though she has nowhere to go
Let her be a child in peace and in war.

Return to the mother, the baby
Snatched from her arms
So she may clothe its innocence with love
Feed it warm milk, sing a sweet lullaby
Let it see the light of day
Not the tunnel of darkness.

Return to the family the father
Breadwinner, protector, husband
So he may come home from the market
With food to nourish body and soul.
 To find his family waiting for him.

Return to the dancers the music
That never stops playing
Every move a celebration of youth
Lived with wild abandon
Let them hear the sound of the bass
Not the shots of a gun.

Return to the animals, the cats, and the dogs 
Their streets and their homes
The donkey with the sad eyes
Buried in the rubble is hurt
He doesn’t understand what’s happening
His sad eyes are seared into my brain.

Return to humanity
Erasure of hatred for the other
Bring back peace
Your ‘peace that passes all understanding’
Let all the world fill their hearts with Your love.
                        

I remember being seventeen, a young college girl
War broke out between my country
and a neighboring one
The instructions were strict 
Windows must be darkened with black paper
No light to show through at nights
A volunteer beat his stick loudly
“Turn off the Lights! Turn off the Lights!”
He shouted like a town crier
He had no good news.

My father was somewhere in the darkness
Fighting a battle of his own
So we clung to our mother tightly
Like koalas to eucalyptus trees 
Till she couldn’t breathe,
The fighter jets roared the skies
if there were bombs we prayed
They would spare the city
Fall into the sea so close to home.

I prayed for the fish
The sea is their home
I prayed for the waves
Not to burn up,
We were spared 
Our home stayed standing
Some are not so lucky.

They say ‘all’s fair in love and war’
So far from the truth.

This war that now rages
Will stop only when
We remove the word ‘war’
From our dictionaries
Keep the word, ‘Peace.’