These children

have yet to learn

to deal with the muddy pellets of abuse

or the ice of neglect

while maturinginto the oaks

of exceptional might.

Almighty

protectthese seedlings

in the sheltered bay

of your tender care

with apprehensive solicitude.

They have

yet to use their coins.

Gardner

nurture the growth of these roots

with rare delicacies of concerns

watch these rainbows of the millennium.

The feverish excitements of today

need them for their rest

in the castle of the comfort

of tomorrow.

The voyage

of the meaningful explorations

for the inner self

they have yet to embark.

They are the top deck

where human expectations

for the warmth of the spring

bask in the adulation of love.

Captain

sail the steamerof these children

to a safer island.

Riding even the ruthless currents

of domestic violence

let these angels savour

the ambrosia of peace.

Creator

bathethese blissful gems

with the softness of unstained holiness.

©Stephen Gillwww.stephengill.ca

-----------------------------------------------
Katherine Shabat

Dear friends,

On this day, 26th January 2007,7th Shevat, 5,767, the eve of the Sabbath, from my home in Gardens of Hope, Israel, I am attempting a spontaneous drive for world peace, by e-mail, with my poem 'Child of Peace.'

In the last twenty-four hours, four dear friends, drawn to Israel from different lands, have taken up the challenge of translating 'Child of Peace' into their mother tongues: Hebrew, French, German and Dutch.

All of you who receive this Sabbath message should see it as your mission to help spread it throughout the world from your home computer and to ensure it is translated into every known language.

This is a message of hope for a better future, for a world free of bloodshed, violence, perversion and greed where we can all, as o­ne, share and enjoy the wonders and bounty of the Almighty, who is common to us all.

Shabbat Shalom and every success o­n your mission.

With warm wishes

Katherine (Katy) Shabat

CHILD OF PEACE

On a mild May morning

of buzzing bees and blooming profusion

on a dew-damp bench we sat

and shared our confusion.

"You have heard the Voice?"

"I have heard.

A moment before the mine

blew us to Nowhere

He bade me jump.

Amid charred flesh and burning metal

His book held to my heart

on the dry desert air I heard:

‘Believe and serve

a child is coming!’

"Heiscome.

Son of man and prince of peace;

blond he is, and pure, as promised.

Butter and honey, o­nly, pass his lips

beneath the olive trees he sleeps

and evil knows he not.”

"Where is the child?"

"Beyond the wall that confines us.

They call this place

‘A House for Mad o­nes’,

but we are not crazed

only weighted down

with the loneliness of knowing

the drama of our destiny."

-----------------------------------------

ילדשלשלום

בבוקרמאינעים

שלזמזוםדבוריםושיפעתפריחה

עלספסללחמטלישבנו

נבוכיםזהעםזו

"השמעתאתהקול?

אכןשמעתי."

רגעלפנישהמוקש

מתפוצץומעיףאותנולכלעבר

ציווהעלילנוס.

בינותלבשרהחרוךוהברזלהרותח

ספרוהדוקאללוחלבי.

באווירהמדברהיבששמעתי:

.האמינוועיבדואותו

"ילדבאלעולם!

הואכברכאן"

יציראדםונסיךהשלום

בהירהוא, וטהור, כאשרהובטח

חמאהודבש, רקזאת, יבואובשפתיו;

תחתעץהזיתיניחראשו

ולאידערע".

"היכןהואהילד?"

מעברהשלחומתהגדר."

קוראיםלמקום

ביתלמטורפים,

אולםדעתנולאנטרפה

רקנדחקנומטה

בודדים, ביודענו

אתהדרמהאשרבגורלנו. "

---------------------------------------------

L’ENFANT DE LA PAIX

Dans la douceur d’un matin de mai,

quand bourdonnent les abeilles

et que les fleurs poussent en profusion,

sur une banquette humide de rosיe,

nous avons partagי notre confusion.

‘’As-tu entendu la Voix?’’

“Oui, je l’ai entendue.’’

Juste avant l’explosion de la mine,

Il m’a commande de sauter.

Parmi la chair calcinיe et le metal brule

serrant son livre pres de mon coeur,

sur l’air sec du desert, j’ai entendu:

‘‘Crois et obeis,

Un enfant vient au monde !’’

“Il est venu.’’

Fils de l’homme et prince de la paix,

il est blond et pur, comme o­n te l’a promis.

Seuls le beurre et le miel touchent ses levres,

il dort dans l’ombre des oliviers

et le mal, il ne le connait point.”

“Ou est-il, cet enfant?”

“Derriere la muraille qui nous enferme.

On appelle cet endroit

‘Une Maison de Fous’

mais nous ne sommes pas insenses,

seulement abattus par la grandeur

du drame de notre destinee.”

------------------------------------------

Kind des Friedens

An einem milden Maimorgen

inmitten Bluetenpracht und summenden Bienen

sassen wir auf einer taufeuchten Bank

und teilten unsere Verwirrung,

„Hast Du die Stimmen gehoert?“

„Ich habe sie gehoert.

Einen Moment, ehe uns die Mine

ins Nichts schleuderte,

bat er mich zu springen.

Inmitten angesengten Fleisches und brennenden Metalls,

sein Buch auf meine Brust gepresst

hoerte ich in der trockenen Wuestenluft:

Glaube und diene

Ein Kind kommt!’

„Er ist gekommen.

Menschensohn und Friedensbote;

Schoen ist er und pur, wie verkuendet.

Ueber seine Lippen gleiten nur Butter und Honig

Er schlaeft unter dem Olivenbaum.

Er kennt kein Arg.“

„Wo ist das Kind?“

„Hinter der Wand, die uns umfaengt.

Sie nennen diesen Ort

‚Ein Irrenhaus '.

Aber wir sind nicht verrueckt

Nur erdrueckt

Durch die Einsamkeit unseres Wissens

um das Drama unserer Bestimmung.“

---------------------------------------------------

РЕБЕНОК МИРА

Тихим майским утром

Среди гудящих пчел и цветущего изобилия

Мы сидели на скамье, влажной от росы

И обсуждали непонятное.

" Вы слышали Голос? "

" Я слышала.

Момент прежде

Унес нас в Никуда

Он призвал меня прыгнуть.

Среди обугленной плоти и горящего металла

Его книга прижалась к моему сердцу

В сухом пустынном воздухе я слышала:

' Верь и жди

Ребенок идет! '

" Он пришел.

Сын человека и принц мира;

Он белокур и непорочен как завещано.

Его губы как масло и мед

Он спит под оливковыми деревьями

И он не знает зла. "

" Где - ребенок? "

"За стеной, которая отделяет нас.

Они называют это место

'Дом сумасшедших,’

Но мы не сумасшедшие

Только располневшие

От одиночества знания

Драмы нашей судьбы. "

Перевод на русский Льва Семашко

15/02/07

-----------------------------------------
Takis Ioannides

The Child’s Proposal

There up high

from the cross of sighs

sadly beckon

the gazes of children

Desire for serenity

and of the times agony

testing the line

of the holy and divine

They seek the grace

of a warm embrace

like a restless wave

a beach to pave

their soul to hold

the light of gold

granted so openly

by God Almighty

Moist and wise

the valley of eyes

crystal clear

are children’s tears

giving the sign

for thoughts divine

proposing too

love’s virtue

written in Greeks by Takis Ioannides

Translated from the Greek to English by Thalia Bisticas

-------------------------

Ada Aharoni

Appeal to: Ariel Sharon and Mohamed Abbas

Making children a priority into Israel and Palestine!

A Peace Poem about Israeli and Palestinian Mothers and Children

My Sister, Daughter of Ishmael

They shall sit every man under his vine

under his fig tree,

and none shall make them afraid

( The Bible Micah4.4)

     "He who walks in peace, walk with him."  (The Koran, Sura 48)
              

My Arab sister, daughter of Ishmael,
Let us build a sturdy bridge
 Form your olive world to mine,
               From my orange world to yours,
               Above the boiling pain
               Of acid rain prejudice -
               And hold human hands high
               Full of free stars
               Of twinkling peace

               I do not want to be your oppressor
               You do not want to be my oppressor,
               Or your jailer
               Or my jailer,
               We do not want to make each other afraid
               Under our vines
               And under our fig trees
               Blossoming o­n a silvered horizon
               Above the bruising and the bleeding
               Of Poison gases and scuds.
              
               So, my Arab sister,
 Let us build a bridge of
               Jasmine understanding
               Where each shall sit with her baby
               Under her vine and under her fig tree -
               And none shall make them afraid
               AND NONE SHALL MAKE THEM AFRAID!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

Maria Cristina Azcona

Children First

Your dark brown eyes, dearest child

Are always blue like diaphanous sky

Are made of topaz, gold and fairy wings

And have thesimplicity of spherical things

Child , your joyfulness, is our first command,

our thirst and our glory

There are many children who cannot talk to us

Because they are unborn, but also there and real.

There are many children who cannot play and smile to us

Because starvation, drugs ,corruption ,hate and war

mutilated their brains and entirelife.

Before money, health and romance,

you are the first priority

Dearest creature who came to us, o­n Earth

From angels transparencies through air and breath

Your soul is clear as clear mountain streams

And Love is the origin of your childish dreams

Child, your future is in our hand

So, we need to understand

Your needs are first, although you don’t complain

You are not unable to express yourself.

This is us who can’t get what you may necessitate

And always adult world is leaving you at the end.

Which is your sea, which is your sand

Your bay, your universe, your better place to stand

There are many children who are far away from us

In other city, without bread,an awful panorama

They are awaiting for solidarity from other countries

But yet there is not a Global Law against their drama

Child, your future is in our hand

So, we need to understand

Which is your sea, which is your sand

Your bay, your universe, your better place to stand

Child , your joyfulness, is our first command,,

our thirst and our glory

Before money, health and romance,

you ought to be our first priority

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------

Rachel Gottlieb

A Joyful Ache

Each month I used to mourn

the full moon

and my empty womb.

Now I welcome the familiar ache: an echo of the deeper pain

that wracked my body

when my baby was born.

Joy overcomes me as I stroke

with o­ne finger

the cheek

of my sleeping child.

Rachel  Gottlieb
16 Alonim St
Kiryat Tivon, Israel
Tel. 972-4-9831904
gottlieb@tivon.net
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

Katherine Shabat

CREATIVEDESTRUCTION

The house is quiet

but for the tick-tack tempo

of the keyboard

and the distant swish-swash

of the washing machine.

Somewhere my little son

is playing quietly.

Just o­ne more page,

another paragraph,

and I'll investigate

the prankful peace.

Oh!

My lovely long-stemmed roses

now just long stems.

I follow the path

of their petals

crossing twisted trails

of torn toilet tissue

which he has traced

from room to room.

Finally I find him

decorating the white walls

in blood-red crayon.

A shout of anger stops at my lips,

my hand halts in its upward swing

and I surrender to his smile.

Who am I to denounce as destruction

a two-year olds’ concept of creativity?

Katherine Shabat: 

I was born in London and have lived in Israel for most of my adult life. I am married and have two grown children. I write full time, all genres.  I am currently writing a new novel.

Katherine Shabat

4 Harimon Street,

Ganei Tikva 55900

Tel: 972 36358202

e-mail: sevenwv@netvision.net.il

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Francisco Gomes de Matos

CHILDREN  AS  PEACE  TREES

A  poem-plea

For my 5-month-old granddaughter Marina

When  world  children are born  in safety

The world rejoices  : a blessed light

But  when  they´re deprived ,and suffer

The world  regrets : a serious  plight.

Is  children´s  right to live in peace

Everywhere  respected ?

Or, how sadly, isn´t it  true

That  right is  often neglected ?

"Children  are  the makers  of (wo)men",

Is Montessori´s  explanation,

For   children   can plant the fertile  seeds

That turn all  fruits  into salvation

Think of children  as  creative peace trees

Ready to sing  a harmonious song

Wishing health, happiness to  all people

Growing in soils where justice is strong

It is said that in children there is innocence

In little human beings we   find purity

But for millions of children there  is absence

For millions, life  has always meant  poverty

What is being done for children born in misery

How  can  we  help  them and their families survive

What am I, what are you, what are we doing now

So that children´s right to a long adulthood can thrive

All  of  the   children  need  adults

But  the opposite can be   true

Children reminds  us that our age

Is the road of good things to do

Francisco Gomes de Matos,

an applied peace linguist  from Recife, Brazil

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------

Stephen Gill

THESE CHILDREN

These children

have yet to learn to deal with

muddy pellets of abuse

or the ice of neglect

while maturing into the oaks

of exceptional might.

Creator

protect these seedlings

in your sheltered bay

with apprehensive solicitude

of tender care.

To revive the Lazarus

buried in the grave of silence

they have yet to use the coin

of deep human concerns.

They are

the embryos of posterity.

Gardner,

guard the growth of these roots.

Nurture them

with rare delicacies of duties.

On their shoulders

sound structures are shaped

for generations to be wombed.

They are

the rainbow of the millennium.

Architect,

watch these foundations.

The feverish excitements of today

need them for their rest

in the castle of the solid comfort

of tomorrow.

The voyage

of the meaningful explorations

for the inner self

they have yet to embark.

They are the top deck

where our expectations

for the warmth of the spring

bask in the adulation of love.

Captain,

sail the steamer of these children

to a safer island.

Riding even the ruthless currents

of domestic violence

let these angels advance

to the port of the vision

of peace and security.

They are

in your image.

God

keep these innocent souls

under the softness of your feathers.

©)copyright Stephen Gill

A recipient of several award for his work for peace, Dr. Stephen Gill has authored more than twenty books, including collections of poems, novels and literary studies. He is a director of the Children's Aid Society for S.D.& G. (Canada). His prose and poetry have appeared in more than five hundred publications. For more information, please visit his sites:

http://home.ican.net/~sgill&www.authorsDen.com/stephengill

StephenGill, Dr. (Tel. 613-932-7735; email: sgill@ican.net) Box 32, Cornwall, o­nt. K6H 5R9 Canada; Web:http://home.ican.net/~sgill; Ansted Poet Laureate

January 27, 2006

Announcement of Poetry Competition

Dear Poets! I am happy to announce o­n the International website “Peace from Harmony and Children’s Priority” with the sponsorship of IFLAC the International Poetry Competition "Children First" in Memory of Daniel Pearl, the well-known reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who was kidnapped and killed in Pakistan in 2002 by terrorists. Daniel Pearl’s efforts in bringing people together through his writings and his music are the most important part of his aspiration to the harmony of humanity. We invite you to send your poems o­n the theme of "Children First" to the Competition. Below you will find the detailed Rules of the Competition.

Leo Semashko

Ph.D., A/Professor,

ISSS, IFLAC in Russia and Website “Peace from Harmony and Children’s Priority” Director,

Address:     7/4-42 Ho-Shi-Min Street, St. Petersburg 194356, Russia

Phone: 7 (812) 513-3863

semashko4444@mail.admiral.ru

<www.peacefromharmony.org>

Competition Rules

1. The International Poetry Competition focusing o­n the topic of "Making Children a Priority for Peace and Harmony of Humanity" or "Children First" in memory of Daniel Pearl will be carried out o­n the International and Multilingual website "Peace from Harmony and Children's Priority" with IFLAC support. The Competition is dedicated to the International Day of Protection and Priority for Children, June 1; the Global Love Day, May 1: the International Day of Peace, September 21; the UN Decade of Peace Culture for Children (2000-2010); and to Daniel Pearl’s memory, who believed in the Harmony of Humanity as words and music may cross all cultural divides..

2. Please submit o­nly o­nE poem per poet. The poem with a brief statement about the poet should be sent to Leo Semashko at .

3. Secondly, regarding the competition, o­nly a poetic appeal/plea to the leader (President, Prime Minister, etc.) of an actual country can be accepted, for example, "Making Children a Priority in (name of the country)."  The author of the poetic appeal will be included in the list of competition winners and receive the honorary title: "Most Brave World Poet in Making Children a Priority Promotion."  For an example, see Ada Aharoni's poetic appeal to the prime ministers of Palestine and Israel, ‘Making Children a Priority’, o­n page 5-2-1 of our site "Peace from Harmony."

4. o­nLY poems o­n the competition's theme may be accepted.  They should reflect  making children a priority and its meaning for the person, family and also for peace, happiness, prosperity, brotherhood, Esperanto, and other views of harmony for humanity in the title and contents.  Sample topics of poems could be the following: "Making Children a Priority in the World," "Build a World Fit for Children," "The Meaning of Daniel Pearl's Life for Children and Youth," "Peace Is the Child," "Children As a Source of Harmony for Humanity," "Children Are a World without Borders," "Gandhi Said, 'Begin with the Children,'" "Give Children a Vote," "Let Children Vote," " Enfranchise Children," "Children Do US Better," "Human Means to Be the Father or Mother of a Child," "Children Should Be the Main Care of the State," "Children's Suffrage Executed by Parents Is the Way to Achieve the Child's Priorities, Peace and Harmony," "Children Are the Center of the Family," "Children and Esperanto," "Children Are the Seeds of Peace and Harmony," "Child Leaders Are the Torches of Peace and Harmony," etc.  A rich source of material for the poems is the letters and responses for the topic "Children First" and also appropriate children's impressions, which poets can find o­n pages 7-6, 9-x and 10-x at our site.

5. The authors of the poems accepted for the Competition pay an organizational fee in the USD 30 for organizational support of the competitive works and also for support of the Global movement "Making Children a Priority in the World ".. (This requirement does not concern poems specified in item 3). If the author cooperates with the site, assists it in translations, editing, advertising, fundraising and in support of the named Global movement he/she is released from the fee.

6. The poems may be in the following website languages: English, Russian, Esperanto, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Each poem could be translated into other website languages with payment of translation fees: the USD 100 for o­ne language. The poems translated o­n other site languages have more chances in the Competition as them will read more the site visitors.

7. The poems accepted into the Competition and their translations will be published o­n the website page: 5-2-1: "International Poetry Competition inDaniel Pearl's Name: Children First for Peace and Harmony of Humanity". The authors of the published poems become the authors of our site.

8. The Competition is held annually.  It begins o­n September 21, the International Day of Peace, and we will stop accepting poems o­n March 31.

9. The three best poems will be selected by readers and visitors to the "Peace from Harmony" Forum and also the site Director to May 15. The site Director makes and announces the results of Competition at June 1 - the International Day of Protection and Priority for Children.The authors of the three best poems will be the Competition winners.

10. The winning poems of the Competition will be kept o­n our site "Peace from Harmony" and will be published o­n the web sites of IFLAC and of Daniel Pearl

IFLAC Site - <www.iflac.com> 

Daniel Pearl Site - <www.danielpearl.org>

October 25, 2005

---------------------------