|
MY SHALOM - MY PEACE
When will the dream come true?
When will Peace bless us too?
These tentative essays into painting and poetry by children speak for themselves in their sincerity-naive and unsophisticated as they are. The childhood of these aspiring Jewish and Arab poets and painters has been marred by two wars. They have already passed through the valleys and shadows, they have heard alarms and sirens, they have spent waking and sleeping hours in shelters, they have participated in military funerals and have become accustomed to the black frames in newspapers.
Perhaps this is why we can respond to these tentative efforts to reach out for a day when not only Israel and Ishmael will play together in peace, but when there will be peace on earth and goodwill towards all men everywhere regardless of race, colour or creed.
THE PAINT-BOX
I had a paint-box -
Each color glowing with delight;
I had a paint-box with colors
Warm and cool and bright.
I had no red for wounds and blood,
I had no black for an orphaned child,
I had no white for the face of the dead,
I had no yellow for burning sands.
I had orange for joy and life.
I had green for buds and blooms,
I had blue for clear bright skies,
I had pink for dreams and rest.
I sat down
and painted
Peace.