The Peace Perspective
Person 1:
In a land of peace
Why does the hate increase
When the “Christians” see
A woman in the street
Cloth on her head
That to them means dread
Because they can’t see past
A New York blast
In a land of peace
That labels violence as pious to ISIS
But denies the presence of bias
On Chapel Hill
A chapel now ridden with shrapnel
Yet we proclaim our hands clean
Deny the Western extreme
Person 2:
God is one
He is all-accepting
But mankind’s hatred is unrelenting
I am drained
By the pain
Of my family under violence’s siege
Remain calm, they preach
Peace is within our reach
Explain once and try again
Explain twice and try again
Explain three times and walk away
Remain calm
Just cry again
Person 3:
Who am I
To simply walk by
In a land of the free
Expressing my belief
Today I see
People approaching me
Claiming that my faith
Calls for the spread of hate
But this idea of hatred
Was only created
By a group who spreads terror
In the name of our Creator
Person 1:
To her the hijab means pure
Yet she has to endure
The violent lies,
The screams and cries
Hurled at her in the land of the free
And the home of the brave
The brave who in justice’s name
Just want someone to blame
Want someone else to be the bad guy
So they don’t have to hear the cry
Of a people torn by war
Simply because of their golden shore
Person 3:
We traveled across the sea
To a land of opportunity
But to my family and me
Are nowhere near free
In a society that confines
Innocent lives
Based on assumptions
Spread by lies
This land of opportunity
Has been infected by disunity
Through the spread of hate
With excuses to discriminate
Against innocent lives
Whose faith survives
As a symbol of peace
But these lives now grieve
Seeking to retrieve
What was once their home
Fighting this cyclone
That has only restricted
Deprived and convicted
These lives that stand
Hand in hand
Working to believe
That we will once again live in peace
Person 2:
Diversity is a beautiful garden
Each flower different
Each blossom unique
There is no reason to water flowers overseas
While others wither at our feet
There is no honor in planting a garden
Where beautiful flowers are simply discarded
There is no beauty
If there is no harmony
There can be no betterment
No progress
No love
Only hate.
And hate is a vicious reaction
That will not end without direct action
Person 1:
In a land of peace
Can’t we release
The hate in our hearts
That war always starts
Can’t we choose
Not to let our views
Be blinded with prejudice
But to see all life as precious
All together:
Here we stand
Hand in hand
United in peace
Refusing to appease
Those who declare
That we cannot share
One land under God
At home and abroad