Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Mosque (Poem)

Mosque

If His name
hallows

Between pews
at Red Fork Baptist

In Tulsa
reverberates

Within Prince of Peace Lutheran
in Springfield

Is held out
as a sign of hospitality

By the ministry
of Paradise Valley United Methodist

In the Arizona desert
gets uttered

In new forms in Anaheim
where Unitarian Universalists

All stand for Love
comforts silent monks

Of the Buddhist Bhavana Society
who chant in Pali

Four hours southwest
of Pittsburgh, in West Virginia

Centers worship by Friends
at the Meeting House

In downtown Baltimore
gathers the Catholic faithful

At His table in the Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception

In Washington, D.C.
and is spoken

In Spanish at Trinity Episcopal
in Iowa City

If masjid for mosque literally
means "place of prostration"

For Muslims who revere Mary
Mother of God

And mention the name Jesus
25 times in their Holy Qur'an

Then who, if not we,
extends the olive branch

Whispers Peace be with you
and breaks bread

Across the divide?

© 2010 Maureen E. Doallas. All Rights Reserved.
___________________________

I posted this poem for One Stop Poetry, which weekly sponsors "One Shot Wednesday", an event for which poets write and post to their blogs an original poem, in any form, and then share it with the One Stop writing community.

Go here for details and then go write a poem.

17 comments:

moondustwriter said...

if we do not offer our hand and love then we are hypocrites!!!

This is why we need poems and poets my dear.

A One Shot hit

moon smiles

signed...bkm said...

well done, love the olive branch symbol - ah what are we afraid of "you .. of little faith"? ..bkm

Bill Cook said...

Rich and insightful. A beautiful vision and challenge. - Bill

Brian Miller said...

an excellent poignant poem...religeon can be so devisive for something so grounded in love...nice oneshot!

Desert Rose said...

deep write..i like it :) thought provoking..nice!!!

dustus said...

Your poem inspires the thought of respectful peace to be with everyone. Great poetry!

Jenne' R. Andrews said...

never easy to write a poem that makes a point, but you have-- moves like a meditation, drawing one in. Such a thorny issue... xj

Marshy said...

i could not agree with you more!..a good poem for one shot that i hope reaches out to the world we are trying to capture through our verse..thanks pete

Claudia said...

some provoking thoughts - in particular the last line - whispers peace with you and breaks bread across the divide...

Louise Gallagher said...

Peace be with you and you and you and me.

Very profound Maureen.

Beachanny said...

Amen! And everyday I say to myself - we are here, not somewhere else. We are here where law stands for justice and we are here where troubled persecuted pioneers came for freedom. When did we decide we couldn't extend it to others?
Well written and powerful. Thank you.

TALON said...

I enjoyed this. And it reminds that the intention is quite often so far from the reality, sadly.

Marcus Goodyear said...

The final image is challenging. I wish we even knew what it looked like to break bread across the divide.

I wish we knew how to whisper peace in a way that was more than empty words.

Tess Kincaid said...

Love the beautiful unity of this piece.

PattiKen said...

And poetry is the perfect hand with which to extend the olive branch. It offers such universal truths and joys, and carries no hidden weapons. Excellent piece.

Ami Mattison said...

A fantastic poem on a pressing topic, Maureen! I love it's specificity--a roll call of religions and locales. And it's message is so important! Thanks so much for sharing!

Anonymous said...

love this...a great topic too:)