"THE ONLY PEACE"

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 93, 12 February 1947, Page 8

"THE ONLY PEACE"

Wars crash like stormy seas Upon the shore, Pounding, grinding, all-consuming, 'Midst terrorising roar, The angry waves subside, Quiet follows fray, But not—as stillness comes With close of day: There's a murmuring that lingers In the.aftermath of war, A symphony of hopes and fears, Of suffering—and wreckage on the shore. Peace comes to men and nations, As jubilation—and despair, Dictation, compensation, Occupation, and a grudge to bear. Victory by conquering might, Is bitter gall to those who lose; Before the smoke of battle clears, Is laid the pregnant fuse That time and opportunity's red flame Will light to glorify, a beaten foe's lost name. In the council of the victors Peace is hammered out 'midst fears, Clause by clause and phrase by phrase Are treaties made to guard the years; Men place their names on dotted lines n Pledge peoples by a signature, Sealed, high-sounding documents Proclaim a world secure.

"Hammer out your terms and treaties, Make your steel-bound pacts, Delete, amend, retain, revise, Build them on accepted facts; Do the best that human thought Can plan for man's security, Build your castles in the air, Ye gamblers in futurity!, Your well-meant hopes and plans are based On mortal, instability, Treaties, covenants must fail, Unless God be a signatory, And all the peoples of the Earth Be one in heart and mind, One God, One Pact, One World For all mankind!" William R. Whiteside, Whakatane.