"nonviolence" poems
Mahatma Gandhi
Young visitors in a gallery,
Stood before a portrait of Gandhiji,
Charmed by his toothless smile,
Eyes sparkling through glasses round
And an old watch dangling from his waist,
With his chest bare and a **** cloth
Covering his lean , frail frame.
While they wondered how the good old man
Could shake the mighty British empire
And fight without weapons of destruction,
They were thrilled to behold a vision rare -
The smiling Gandhi emerged from the frame,
Saying that his weapons were invisible,
Yet, they could vanquish the most powerful
Without hatred and shedding no blood!
His loving voice and childlike smile
Combined with an unbending will,
Wielding the power of truth and nonviolence
Could conquer his mighty ruthless foes
And turn them into everloving friends!.
Feeling amazed, the visitors stared
At the Mahatma moving back into the frame;
Begged him to remain and lead them again.
"My countrymen," he said "seem to have forgotten,
" The bloodshed and horror of partition.
"Terrorists and fanatics **** and burn
" And innocent victims feel miserable and forlorn.
"Twice a year, on my 'samaadhi', flowers are strewn,
" While helpless millions struggle and groan.
"In these days of endless greed and senseless crime, "
"Guided missiles and misguided men,
" My words seem to have no relevance,
"Yet, if they listen to their own conscience,
" Give up greed and serve with compassion,
"The India of my dreams will arrive soon."
Sad and surprised, the visitors stared:
Though the figure vanished, his words inspired
And they resolved to follow his noble ways
And strive for the welfare of all mankind.
********* M.G.Narasimha Murthy
Hyderabad, India. [email protected]
Nov 25, 2015
Nov 25, 2015 at 8:16 AM UTC
Did any flower bloom, in your garden today, check out now
Love alone is the flower with fragrance, don't water the rest.
An year reigned is dead, the overcast sky clearly proclaims
A dark shroud covers the sky, hiding the good cheer we need.
Alone, I climb up the winding road to the hilltop, to view
The sunset, it reminds the past year of painful events
The skyline looks blood smeared, from a corner fire erupts
Making hate the recurring motif, what's happening to the world?
Technologies to share information is no good, if we aren't sane.
If we use that to sow evil seeds of hatred, poison spreads.
Life turns a mess, all the wealth has no meaning without peace.
Are we not ashamed to be vengeful like barbarians, **** each other?
Didn't Gandhi prove, nonviolence is the weapon against brute force?
Dec 30, 2014
Dec 30, 2014 at 11:04 AM UTC
Embedded in ancient myths, each moment
of life one lives is out and out mysterious .
In the firmament at night, every star
that is winking at you is a memory
refracted to interstellar depths by
laden layers of light years.
Swimming in this lake of kaleidoscopic dreams
I encounter fish with every countenance,
imaginable; wishes all, from lives past, far and near,
some even aberrations from future
Sometimes during such
underwater explorations,
I see myself flying above
numerous planets,
dressed in transparent
dark nights or moonbeams
spun from wishful dreams.
In one of those trips
to the present,defying laws,
I see you, sitting there
frozen in time,
like a work chiseled in alabaster
all smiles,among your deer friends
all lovely does!
In a flash, magic carpet of time flies back
I remember you, our encounter unforgettable!
The wily tiger, in the guise of a lover, you
were getting closer to the deer, pure at heart
so naive to the guiles of the forest.
As you were about to spring at her
Your eyes, met her steady tranquil gaze,
that spoke of love and compassion, infinite.
Remember,you froze, as if by a spell,
struck by the force of nonviolence.
You are still there, even after avalanches
of million dense memories,
a tiger, all killer instincts frozen,
still trusted among the deer, your dear ones.
Now I can see your eyes zooming around
for the mystery to be revealed;
meeting that ancient deer again, for final resolution.
Sep 17, 2017
Sep 17, 2017 at 1:34 PM UTC
January 19, 2017
The sword of Damocles hangs tense in the American night as a nation steels itself,
My friends stick to their guns, my enemies do the same, and there's all these children who don't know which side of a border they'll end up on when the dust settles, there's all these trees down south who never asked to feel the weight of bodies on their branches, there's all these people talking in circles and there's nothing but doom on the television,
Dr. King, I think of you this night, three days following the holiday they pinned to your corpse like a participation ribbon, I think of what they've done to you,
Dr. King, they murdered you, they dissolved you in bleach, they rewrote your history and their mouths defile you to this day
Dr. King, I want you to know there are parts of you that cannot be stripped away,
Two hundred fifty thousand raised voices, five hundred thousand raised hands,
Countless bodies in the street, countless jail sentences, countless tears shed in pursuit of a dream
Dr. King, they tried to tell me your dream was of peace, but it's always been about freedom
Dr. King, I know you would understand what must be done in the pursuit of freedom
Dr. King, you knew that nonviolence could only work until they came for your blood
Dr. King, you knew one day you'd have to strike back but they never gave you the chance
Dr. King, they come for the blood of your brothers and sisters today
Dr. King, they put words in your corpses mouth and teach it to dance,
Dr. King, they will claim you no longer
Dr. King, your chains will be broken,
Dr. King, one day, you will be free at last,
Glory glory, hallelujah, free at last
Jan 20, 2017
Jan 20, 2017 at 2:01 AM UTC
the first time
i heard
the word
******
my soul
pulled the trigger
to find
a better way
to organize
the spirit of
Black Folks
across the Nation Land
to fight against racism
through
nonviolence
make racism
submit and surrender
then drop to her knees
and bow down
to God almighty
ask for forgiveness
Dec 31, 2014
Dec 31, 2014 at 4:36 AM UTC
Freedom is existence, growth and persistence enacted through nonviolence such as passive resistance.
Freedom is expansion, past the bounds of your mind's mansion, to evolve with the environment like verses without scansion.
To revel in the expansion of your own spatial existence is like how treble leaves you dancing as the bass is Doppler shifting.
To enjoy the state of living in your temporal position is the very definition of the joy of manumission.
Mar 3, 2015
Mar 3, 2015 at 7:16 PM UTC
on the day
we obviate all wars
our eyes shall see
a new dawn
as brothers and sisters
of the earth
we'll bear witness
to tranquility
history's pages
wrought in killing stains
conflicts repeated
too many times
our planet's inhabitants
all so blind
they see not
the dove of peace
man has forgotten
the tenant
of loving
thy neighbor
as an awful consequence
the gun rules with might
unto the drum
of nonviolence
man has not yet
begun to march
lay down
the sword of war
as it gravely
shadows all nations
on the horizon
a light doth flicker
beseeching man
to live cordially
dark clouds ever
they're looming
which path
shall man walk upon
the high road
leads to quiet
arms dispensed with
and deposed
pursuing the trail
of rancor
brings but
discordant clashes
Apr 7, 2014
Apr 7, 2014 at 6:42 PM UTC
I strive my best to live a life of nonviolence
somewhere along the way I abandoned all common sense
trying to stop living in the past tense
and if you want my 2 cents
the world’s a mess
there’s something I would like to address
I used to think I was depressed
I digress
I guess all the excess stress went straight to my chest
lost access to self express
I haven’t been right since
you see
recently
I became obsessed with the oppressed
The majority turn a blind eye
but I see b.s.
don’t even get me started on the press
look into your mind’s eye and see the power we posses
yet we make no real progress
repress success by banning protests in the U.S.
so far gone we need a g.p.s
nonetheless, we, the people, need to reassess
they’re manipulating your mind
playing you like a game of chess
yet you still think you know what is best
and I can’t get any rest thinking about what’s coming next
I was put to the test
self-professed that I’m blessed
in retrospect I cannot recollect a day of rest
my mind is always on its grind
I have rain on my brain
clouds in my eyes
looking up at the sky you can’t stop time and ask it why it chooses to float on by
no matter how hard you try
just doing what I have to do to survive
although I know in the meantime you’re on my side
someone once asked me how I could believe and why
so in reply I’ll try to simplify
my faith was solidified when I realized
heaven is on standby
waiting for I
now my eyes are open wide
there is no side
only free will
there’s a comfort in knowing a chance remains still
it’s up to you to fulfill
your prophecy
your destiny
I’m just searching for what’s best for me
namaste
wish I could remain but I have to be on my way
here’s to hoping for a change
Nov 21, 2014
Nov 21, 2014 at 1:41 AM UTC
If the Messiah they need is a woman
Convince them only men are holy.
If the Messiah they need is black
Convince them only white is holy
If the Messiah they need is same gender loving or non-binary
Convince them only heterosexual is holy
If the Messiah they need is proud
Convince them only humility is holy
If the Messiah they need holds knowledge in their left hand
Convince them the right hand is holy
If the Messiah they need has a ten point plan of righteously defending one's self
Convince them that the only holy answer is nonviolence.
If they ever one day happen to believe that they can define:
Self
By Self
Through Self
Of Self
Convince them that holiness is only attainable through a message and belief of:
Holy and selective Prosperity
Holy and selective Favoritism
Holy and selective
Elitism
If they ever happen to look in the mirror and one day love all that they see
Convince them that the holy standards of beauty deems every and all that makes them what they are ugly
If they ever happened to one day realize that the Messiah that they need is within all of them as a United People
Convince them that the holy Messiah can only lay in one person per generation and then publicly assassinate the person that they believe
Or you have chosen
To be their
Messiah.
© Christopher F. Brown 2018
Mar 18, 2018
Mar 18, 2018 at 2:04 AM UTC
On occasion,
I have been driven to acts of extreme nonviolence
by those who have expected the opposite of me
There is nothing quite like
the sound
of a father's dismay
at his son
who refuses to strike him
despite his deepest wishes,
Or the relief in a girl's voice
after promising,
without her asking,
to never abuse her.
I think something is wrong with me.
For I am only violent in my music.
Is grunge what life is suppose to feel like?
Is that what my best friend hears
every day he shuffles past
loose bottles and snapped belts
to crawl into bed,
hoping to not distrub the presence
which gave him life?
A presence still snoring out the whimpers of his little brother?
Did my dad hear bass tabs
when he told his abused siblings that
"there ain't no way I'mma treat my children like he did us?"
I wonder,
does he still hear them?
Are howls and chords what the boys in bathroom stalls
playgrounds
hallways
classrooms
my bedroom
my porch
my basement
hear when they make me taste the ground?
Can the violence of soundwaves really be mistaken
for the passage of time?
Does life truly deserve a Grammy for
Best Harrowing Performance?
Is life really just one big mosh pit?
...
On occasion
I have been driven to acts of extreme forgiveness
by those who deserved only a little
All they had to do was ask
and that is what scared them
Dec 13, 2014
Dec 13, 2014 at 5:58 AM UTC
I'm thinking of Gandhi.
As far as I know,
he never wrote a poem.
But his life was one
of the greatest poems ever.
His poem's theme
was nonviolence.
I would say its theme
was LOVE, love of self
and of everyone else.
He defied despots
not with guns, but with
the steel of love. He walked
to the sea with thousands.
He never fought with hate,
but by fasting 'til death,
if need be. His net worth
was $1 when he was shot
dead. He was the richest
man on Earth, and one of
the greatest poets ever.
TOD HOWARD HAWKS
Apr 15, 2023
Apr 15, 2023 at 12:13 AM UTC
Rainbows hugged me.
imprinted violet hues
stained heart vessels purple,
floral and diamond bits.
encrusted notations
flamed into gossamer
of hope and nonviolence,
smoothing inner vibes.
chrysanthemums mumbled
exposing petals to helium
emanating from expanding
cosmic gyrations.
sunflowers smiled
churning ocean blues.
crystallizing emotions
into mesmerizing moths.
my coppers gleam
erasing accumulated verdigris.
nibocumulus clouds
drifted along muttering.
syllables of poetry
conjugated into a floral
tribute, perfumed by
magnolias white as snow.
bumble bees whispering,
nuptial flight at dawn.
queen painted with pollen yellows
and nectar sweetened lips.
Aug 6, 2017
Aug 6, 2017 at 10:55 PM UTC
It’s time to speak
To use the thing
Society tries to take from you
“To stop speaking is to stop being heard”
To stop being heard would mean we lost
We can’t surrender
If we lose, they take it
Use your voice
Wield it as a weapon
In the arsenal of nonviolence
Declare your freedom
Yell it out
It’s time to speak
Stand
For
Your
Rights
To quote the Dr. King
“Our lives begin to end
The day we become silent
About the things that matter”
Once we quiet
They stop caring
They stop listening
They stop changing
We stop trying
It’s time to speak
Now is the time
Not tomorrow
Not next week
Not that day
So far in the future
We can’t even imagine
It’s not up to our children
To start our battle
It’s up to us
All it takes is three words
We
Deserve
More
The time is now
Speak
Nov 21, 2019
Nov 21, 2019 at 2:09 AM UTC
If you need to brutally use your fists
Against my flesh and bones
Then the deeper meaning
Behind your actions
Is that you are incapable of communicating
The Dali Lama once said
Nonviolence
Is the reflection of internal peace within
If you beat me
Then you are incapable of using your words
There is no peace found within
Jul 31, 2020
Jul 31, 2020 at 9:35 PM UTC
I ***** I fumble.
I do not seek
any death.
You will divide,
my body, my soul.
Concealing a double
of god, you disappear
in zero visibility.
The bullets,
the knife.
Will they break the pride
of defying the norms?
The nonviolence speaks
from podium.
Hate breeds hate.
Would you drop the weapons
for enemy?
A rose will say I don't know.
Jan 19, 2018
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:45 PM UTC
Rusted maple leaves
fallen on ice, from the
disgraced trees.
Spread like tiny palms of
sweet children-
ready for school.
I have come to teach
myself, the lessons
of nonviolence in moonlight-
washed promises.
Where lies the peanut
wisdom of man, crashed on
the cruel earth?
The refugee cult
grows out of the torn psyche.
So you believe in-
incarnation?
Oct 10, 2018
Oct 10, 2018 at 8:13 PM UTC
Pacifists feign high minded morality.
It's just easier to disavow violence,
than to justify the cause you fight for.
But no more worthwhile.
Homogeny and peace
Over
Progress and conflict.
Tell the dead they're right
For not having fought back.
Let Gandhi tell you that the world
mirrors the nature of the man.
See if his wives agree.
Let Martin Luther King Jr. tell you about
the merits of nonviolence
from his martyred eversleep.
Ask Genghis Khan if his legacy is great.
Ask Alexander The Great.
Ask George Washington.
The few successful pacifists
Are remarkable.
Because they were successful.
Nov 29, 2019
Nov 29, 2019 at 3:55 PM UTC
Rusted maple leaves
fallen on ice, from the
disgraced trees.
Spread like tiny palms of
sweet children-
ready for school.
I have come to teach
myself, the lessons
of nonviolence in moonlight-
washed promises.
Where lies the peanut
wisdom of man, crashed on
the cruel earth?
The refugee cult
grows out of the torn psyche.
So you believe in-
incarnation?
Oct 11, 2018
Oct 11, 2018 at 8:57 PM UTC
Don't throw the light
on rocks. It gives
more pain, explaining ethics.
What was passive
violence? You want to
**** your poems with out
hurting anyone.
The teacher lives
without giving a lesion but
you won't learn.
Want to read
Kafka again. Why does
nonviolence exit? The
silence tells the truth.
You can understand
yourself, when you don't
speak in the twilight of
moon and sun.
May 19, 2019
May 19, 2019 at 9:43 PM UTC