Greetings of the Season for Peace among Nations and the Betterment of the Human Condition

From poet member Murray Wilton (Toronto)

When all the guns and all the ships And the missiles laden with hate Are tied with ribbon like a mortgage paid — Then burnt as a consecrate. When all the Pentagons and all the Kremlins And all the dictators soliciting salutes Are told to take their uniforms off And surrender their swords and boots.

When north is south and east is west And goods are produced everywhere, When privilege and pride of being top dog Are titles that all will share. When millions and billions of new human beings Springing up from the fertile womb Will know that no tariff or hydrogen bomb May spell their certain doom.

When all the religions and all the sects And all the mumbo-jumbies of deepest God knows Admit that there’s more to the world around Than their magic will ever disclose. When all the masters of psychological hype Leave the press and the airways at rest And give us all a brief respite To use as each thinks best.

When man sees man as a fellow man Adrift on a raft in space, Where there’s nothing to hold that raft afloat Except for a saving grace. For intelligence alone is not enough What fools the intelligent can be; The world is run by clever fools Who resemble you and me.

from When, 1983.