Put Back Your Sword

By Joseph Veneroso, M.M.

The blood of Cain still cries out
To heaven, amplified by billions
Throughout millennia since our exile
From Eden made all humankind
Refugees on an earth no longer home.

Isaiah’s vision of beating swords
Into plowshares and spears into
Pruning hooks now falls distorted and
Profaned by stealing from the sick
And robbing food from the starving.

Without bullets or bombs did Gandhi
Sit in silence and walk in protest
Till once-mighty Britain learned too late
Pharaoh’s obstinance was no match
For God’s command: let my people go.

The light of Dorothy Day shone forth
From prison cells to expose
The vulgarity and futility of all wars
She would not dignify as just, sending

Catholic Workers to build true peace.

In refusing to sit in the back of the bus
Rosa Parks took a stand that caused
Martin Luther King to march with millions
Across bridges and artificial barricades
Giving power and life to a dream.

The Dalai Lama’s unending quest for peace
Took form when Buddhist monks walked

From Fort Worth to Washington, rallying
Thousands along the way to reply: Yes, we
Are our brothers’ keeper, our sisters’ ally.