Staying Power #163: "And Breathe"
A community poem based on Judyth Hill's "Wage Peace" and the words of Deep Divers
On Thursday evening, Deep Divers met with mystery guest Judyth Hill, the poet who penned the poem “Wage Peace.” That poem, written on the day of the 9/11 attacks, was the initial selection in January’s “Waging Peace” Deep Dive.
I invited everyone at the event to write in response to the following prompts, each of which is a phrase excerpted from Judyth’s poem.
Breathe in ______________________________ (i.e., some suffering in the world that you’re concerned about)
Breath out ______________________________ (i.e., something that might transform suffering, or a form of peace)
Remember your tools: _____________________ (i.e., your personal tools for waging peace)
To create the following community poem, I wove the Deep Diver responses that I received into Judyth’s text. I made slight alterations here and there to Deep Diver lines in order to serve the poem’s emerging form.
A huge thank you to the Deep Divers who contributed. Your lines are boldfaced and numbered in the poem, with your names noted below.
Deep bows of gratitude to Judyth for allowing us to play with her poem, which now has an astounding global life. The entirety of her text remains within this new one. I assigned the title “And Breathe” to the community poem to clearly distinguish it from the original.
AND BREATHE
A community poem based on Judyth Hill's "Wage Peace"
with lines contributed on February 1, 2024, by Deep Divers on The Raft.
Assembled by Phyllis Cole-Dai.
Dedicated with affection and blessings to Judyth Hill
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in the pain of the world
and breathe out gracious, undying love. [6]
Breathe in world despair and depression
and breathe out renewed spirit. [8]
Breathe in grief and tears
and breathe out empty space and calm. [5]
Breathe in fear, anxiety, anger,
and breathe out courage, hope, and well-earned peace. [9]
Breathe in firemen and rubble,
breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red wing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists
and breathe out sleeping children and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in shrapnel, a forced exodus, body bags,
and breathe out a mother's soothing hand on your forehead,
the first light sliding over the horizon,
a lover's kiss. [13]
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in churning fears
and breathe out a candle lit in a darkened room. [2]
Breathe in the fallen and breathe out lifelong friendships intact.
Breathe in abandonment and breathe out homecoming. [4]
Breathe in the empty pangs of loneliness
and breathe out the joyful smiles of being seen, known, and connected. [12]
Breathe in the sick child in his father’s arms
and breathe out wellness for families of children. [3]
Breathe in burning crosses
and breathe out the smell and feel of geranium leaves
rubbed between your fingers. [7]
Breathe in the pain of those grieving
and breathe out compassion,
listening profoundly. [14]
Breathe in the plastic waste on Africa’s shores,
breathe out pristine oceans and beaches,
choose biodegradables. [14]
Breathe in exploding warfare,
breathe out children singing, pigeons cooing
Buddhist wishes for safety and peace. [14]
Breathe in the darkness of generational trauma,
breathe out the lightness of deep healing, release
all that no longer serves us and our wide world. [15]
Breathe in chaos, breathe out harmony.
Breathe in bloodshed, breathe out negotiation.
Breathe in warriors, breathe out songbirds.
Breathe in poison, breathe out pure air.
Breathe in lone addicts, breathe out happy families.
Breathe in rumination, breathe out song.
Breathe in battles, breathe out puppies. [10]
Breathe in the fear of uncertainty when the stakes are high,
breathe out your patience, faith, and hand on your heart. [11]
It will play out. [11]
Breathe in the senseless and intense worry,
breathe out the soft awareness of your truth and grace. [11]
It will play out. [11]
Wage peace with your listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothespins, clean rivers,
kindness and mirrored grace, [6]
laughter of friends, [2]
communication, dependability, intelligence, [10]
joyful “Good Morning ☀️” text messages, [12]
presence, patience, persistence, prayer, [1]
poetry, [5]
the awesome wonder of gopher tortoises and clouds, [12]
compassion, passion, endless love, [9]
calming breath that can slow you down, [6]
trees that release life as they grow, [6]
other responses and ways to be, [6]
simple acts that can change someone's day, [6]
dancing with abandon by yourself in the kitchen, [7]
seeing snowdrops and making snow angels with grandbabies, [15]
the dinosaur yoga mat where we teach our children to be
in their bodies, in their joy, [15]
bedtime rituals, stories, [15]
lullabies to soothe them into sweet slumber, [15]
hope, beauty, [8]
your hands, your breath, your lips, your body, solid and warm, [13]
your broken open heart, [2]
the sacred circle of the hula hoop, [15]
the recurring surprise of sunrise. [4]
Make soup.
Measure ingredients by eye,
a little of this, a little of that,
and bring many trays to neighbors. [3]
Listen deeply during a lunch date. [12]
Play music, memorize the words for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries.
Imagine grief
as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and precious:
Have a cup of tea . . . and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Breathe in joy and breathe out love. [1]
Celebrate today.
__________________
Deep Divers who contributed to this community poem:
1 Deb Bailey
2 Brigid Beckman
3 Lisa Breger
4 Valerie Campbell
5 Annette Grunseth
6 Karen Hoffman
7 Rona Klein
8 Jackie Langetieg
9 Don Mayhew
10 Pam Phillips
11 Julie Roth
12 Nancy Shebeneck
13 Lanette Sweeney
14 Allie Turnock
15 Marianne Murphy Zarzana
Phyllis Cole-Dai, assembler
The Gentle Nudge
THURSDAY: Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, 12:00-1:00PM Central, at this link)
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Oh Phyllis, this turned out so wonderfully! What a glorious dive and this helps bring it all together. So o ften I forget bits of gatherings, but this distills it and forms a community of us for Waging Peace. It feels like it will go forward. Judyth and her poem were the perfect fulcrum. I'll admit that I cried a little as I read the combined poem you crafted. You did a great job! Thank you so much. More and more I feel that I am part of a community here on this earth and on this raft!
Wow. This was such a wonderful, powerful way to wrap up the month of Waging Peace. I agree that it feels like strong community and common ground and it can go on. I got a bit teared up as I read this group effort, planted with love by Judyth and cultivated with such care by Phyllis. Just wow.