Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou

[rainy]

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou


Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.


Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.


Merry Christmas friends and family!

[KyndCulture]

1. K n R! beautiful!

[Vox_Reason]

2. Bought the little book for my wife

The guy at Borders said they couldn't keep them on the shelves--they were gone an hour or two after a shipment would come in, and other stores were callinga around trying to score some from other stores.

Good to know that peace is on the minds of at least some people this season.

[shenmue]

3. The unity theme

Very much needed today. Yet a lot of people won't talk about it.

I've seen her speak twice. ;) :thumbsup:

[IndyOp]

4. I heard her speak a few years ago...

She talked about so many issues, read beautiful poems - her own and others. The statement that echoes in my mind was this (paraphrasing): Learn your poetry. Life is hard. You are going to need it.

[flordehinojos]

5. i love these stanzas from the poem:

We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.


Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

and i can imagine the tone of her voice and the inflection of her words saying them .

thank you for posting the poem. She read a poem of her own during clinton's first inauguration...and i can't remember who may have been invited in his second inauguration to read/compose a poem. i know robert frost wrote/read one of his during Kennedy's inauguration.
did george bush ever have anyone read/compose a poem during either of his theatrics of a power grab?

[BattyDem]

6. Beautiful! Thanks for posting it.

:hi:

[babsbunny]

7. I love her!

I strive to be half the person she is!

[rainy]

8. I saw her recite this last night on a c-span rerun.

I researched it today and at our Christmas dinner I read this poem as our Christmas prayer.

[intheflow]

9. This is such a beautiful poem!

Thank you for sharing it with us. K&R'd! And peace to all on earth!

[Window]

10. Simply beautiful!

Thank you for sharing.




Peace

[ClayZ]

11. My Daughter read this to me two days ago

Because I always reply, "Peace on Earth" when she asks what I want for Christmas. It has been an ongoing exchange between us for several years. Last year she bought me a decending dove with an olive branch. It is gold and the olive is a diamond. She is very creative! I am very lucky!

When she read this the other day. She started crying at:

"We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for."

I had been crying since:

"In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard."

This poem will be a in my treasure chest for the rest of my life!


Thank you for posting it.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

[fooj]

12. Wow.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

It all starts from within.

Peace.

[Oilwellian]

13. She read this on Oprah recently

It was so moving and everyone had a tear in their eye.

[WiseButAngrySara]

14. This is so beautiful. Thanks for posting. K&R and Merry Christmas!

[pberq]

15. K&R - beautiful!

[Miss Chybil]

16. Merry Christmas! nt