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I came to you for simple understanding

In friendship, rather than imposed command;

I hoped that you would follow in my footsteps

To love as I loved, trying to understand

How even those who hated you had value

And no one was beyond redemptive love.

But now it seems I might have been too hopeful

For humankind, where Peace, that gentle dove,

Can only be assured by blooded weapons

And violence precedes the enforced calm.

The footsteps that I left seem to lie empty

With few there seeking for insight or balm,

While masses flock to massacre the innocent,

Slaughtering, to gain a martyr's palm.

Brian Hick March 2011

©copyright Sally Hick 27.3.23