For Peace, on the Bat Mitzvah of Tamar Cohen-Eckstein

PEACE

by   Ruth Eckstein , mother of Kolot member Gary Eckstein                                          

I, too, had a dream

Different from his

But then not altogether different

He wanted breaking away of barriers

Acceptance and freedom

Those are good things 

But I want more

Both more and less

Mine is simple

It’s an old dream

That came from long ago

When I was a child

A child of the Holocaust

I lost a lot

My life in Berlin

Along with my mother

My memories

Her whole family

And half of my father’s

All swallowed and gone

So much death

The six million

Countless other millions

Throughout Europe

Soldiers, civilians,

Men, women, children

All fodder for the death machine

But then the new promise

A weary world united

No more war

Permanent peace

At last a dream to believe in

And I, a true believer,

Believed

Yet had to

Watch it all slip away

And disappear 

Disappear 

Into talk and threat

And finally (so soon)

Into war and war 

And more wars

Whatever happened to peace?

I still want it, you want it

Everyone says they want it

Everyone seems to yearn for it

Why is it so elusive?

Are we or are we not 

Masters of our own fate? 

Perhaps not

Maybe we need to work harder 

Try harder

Teach our children better

To find a different way

Surely peace would be worth it

(October 29, 2011)