11 Days of Global Unity: What We Plant

11 Days of Global Unity (September 11-21) is a worldwide opportunity to inspire, inform, and involve citizens and communities in creating a culture of peace and developing a sustainable future. The theme for this year’s articles is: Peace—Plan It; Peace—Plant It; Peace Planet. For more information on 11 Days of Global Unity and for local events, go to www.11daysames.org

 By Linda Voit

It’s so easy to be at peace

on the edge of a lake in August

when all you can hear are leaves

answering breezes, gentle bursts

of birdsong and thumps of two grasshoppers

landing on the uneven concrete steps

your great aunt used to skim

on her way to water

when your own feet were small.

It’s so easy to be at peace remembering

how you sent your tentative bare feet

searching each slab at night

how you pushed aside visions of snakes

with the strength of trust in your dad

who joined you on the creaking pier

to share a bowl of stars.

And what of those whose childhoods

had no tilting stairs

to a lake their ancestors swam

and whose inky nights were lit

with bombs?

What peace comes when they visit

a field in August and remember

how their friend disappeared, dissolved

forty years ago for skipping

to the wrong square inch

of rustling grass?

Linda Voit lived in Ames from December 2002 until early 2012. She was one of the founding members of the team for 11 Days of Global Unity in Ames and enjoyed working with local contributors of 11 Days articles each year. Work has taken her back to her native state of Wisconsin, but she treasures the time she had in Ames, particularly with Third Stanza poetry group (including their 11 Days readings) and with the 11 Days Team, and she is honored to be able to contribute to the collection of articles for 2012. (for another poem from a previous 11 Days reading, see finchandrose.org, poetry, "Oh, River")

11 Days of Global Unity began in 2004 marking the change from fear to hope. The series begins on the anniversary of Sept. 11 and ends Sept. 21 the United Nations International Day of Peace.