 |
| Allegory of Peace by Giorgio Vasari (16th century Florentine artist) National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
Let It Begin With Me
The air
hummed with promise—unexpected
in those
troubled times. Hot cider spiced
its way
through the crowded room
and tins of
homemade cookies sparkled
in the hands
of children.
The scent of
cut pine met
the draft of
ozoned cold each time
the basement
door swung open
into the
small candlelit church.
Toward the
end of Mass, the young priest asked
for a
volunteer to lead us in a last song.
No one moved.
Weary of such efforts,
our pockets
and faith on empty.
Finally, a
boy of ten walked to the altar
and began
singing Let there be peace on earth…
His
high-pitched voice, unsteady at first, grew
into the
strength of the music while we grew
into his.
One by one we
stood, reaching out to strangers,
and when the
last note ended, we remainded still.
Forty years
later, I watch white flakes spark
the cobalt
sky and the memory of that long ago
song flickers
and catches fire. Looking out into the glow
of stars, the
pillowed accumulation,
I hear the
song weave through the white
screen of
night, the voice of the child,
and despite
the weight of the snow-heavy world,
I remember—let it begin with me.
~ Mary Jo
Balistreri
© Mary Jo
Balistreri
Mary Jo
thought you might enjoy the background of this poem. The ten-year-old that sang
a capella was her son, Michael. She was shocked to see him walk to the altar
and begin. He knew the words by heart which was another surprise. That he
looked so earnest and yet at ease, she knew he believed in that song. It was a
proud moment and one filled with joy.
“Let it begin
with me” was first published by yourdailypoem.com in November, 2011. It has
been republished in Balistreri’s book, Gathering
the Harvest, and in The Avocet: A Journal of Nature Poetry (Winter 2017).
In September, of this year, Mary Jo’s a new book of poetry, "Still,"
was released by Future Cycle Press. Mary Jo is a Wisconsin poet. For
more information, please visit her at maryjobalistreripoet.com.
The December Challenge:
The challenge
for December is a poem on the theme of PEACE. The theme can be taken in many
different directions. Be creative!
Your poem may
be free verse or formal. If you use a form, please identify the form when you
submit your poem.
Title your
poem unless it is a form that does not use titles. Single-space. Note that the
blog format does not accommodate long lines; if they are used, they have to be
broken in two, with the second part indented (as in the poem “Lilith,” one of
the November 2018 winners). Read
previous poems on the blog to see what line lengths can be accommodated.
You may
submit a published poem if you retain
copyright, but please include publication data. This applies to poems
published in books, journals, newspapers, or on the Internet.
The
deadline is December 15.
Poems submitted after the deadline will not be considered. There is no charge
to enter, so there are no monetary rewards; however winners are published on
this blog. Please don’t stray too far from “family-friendly” language (some
children read this blog). No simultaneous submissions, please. You should know
by the end of the month whether or not your poem will be published on this
blog. Decision of the judge or judges is final.
The poet
retains copyright on each poem. If a previously unpublished poem wins and is
published elsewhere later, please give credit to this blog. I do not register
copyright with the US copyright office, but by US law, the copyright belongs to
the writer unless the writer assigns it to someone else.
If the same
poet wins three months in a row (which has not happened thus far), he or she
will be asked not to submit the following two months.
How to Submit Your Poem:
Send one poem only to wildamorris[at]ameritech[dot]net (substitute the @ sign for “at” and a . for “dot”). Put “December Poetry Challenge Submission” in the subject line of your email. Include a brief bio that can be printed with your poem if you are a winner this month. Please put your name and bio UNDER the poem in your email. If the poem has been published before, please put that information UNDER the poem also.
Send one poem only to wildamorris[at]ameritech[dot]net (substitute the @ sign for “at” and a . for “dot”). Put “December Poetry Challenge Submission” in the subject line of your email. Include a brief bio that can be printed with your poem if you are a winner this month. Please put your name and bio UNDER the poem in your email. If the poem has been published before, please put that information UNDER the poem also.
Submission of
a poem gives permission for the poem to be posted on the blog if it is a
winner, so be sure that you put your name (exactly as you would like it to
appear if you do win) at the end of
the poem.
Poems may be
pasted into an email or sent as an attachment (no pdf files, please). Please do not indent the poem or center it
on the page. It helps if you submit
the poem in the format used on the blog (Title and poem left-justified;
title in bold (not all in capital letters); your name at the bottom of the
poem). Also, please do not use multiple spaces instead of commas in the middle
of lines. I have no problem with poets using that technique (I sometimes do it
myself). However I have difficulty getting the blog to accept and maintain
extra spaces.
Poems shorter
than 40 lines are generally preferred but longer poems will be considered.
© Wilda Morris
