POETRY PEACE VIGIL “It is the duty of every poet to speak fearlessly and clearly.” – Sam Hamill
	If you’ve been moved by this unjust war to write a poem, please consider submitting by email to thorleyp1@yahoo.com. or mail to SPC. Work on themes of war, the war economy, oppression and political injustice, and/or which celebrates more positive hopes and visions, will be considered.

Prayer for Peace
(I of V only)

to Georges and Claude Pompidou

Leopold Senghor

Lord Jesus, at the end of this book, which I offer You

As a ciborium of sufferings

At the beginning of the Great Year, in the sunlight

Of Your peace on the snowy roofs of Paris

- Yet I know that my brothers' blood will once more redden

The yellow Orient on the shores of the Pacific

Ravaged by storms and hatred

I know that this blood is the spring libation

The Great Tax Collectors have used for seventy years

To fatten the Empire's lands

Lord, at the foot of this cross - and it is no longer You

Tree of sorrow but, above the Old and New Worlds,

Crucified Africa,

And her right arm stretches over my land

And her left side shades America

And her heart is precious Haiti, Haiti who dared

Proclaim Man before the Tyrant

At the feet of my Africa, crucified for four hundred years

And still breathing

Let me recite to You, Lord, her prayer of peace and pardon.

Leopold Senghor, a politician and widely-acclaimed writer and thinker, served as President of Senegal from 1960 to 1980.

Editor's Note:
Georges Pompidou was President of France from 1969 to 1974. A "ciborium" is a chalice-like vessel used to contain the Blessed Sacrament during the Catholic Mass.