LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS

LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS

My inner voice said, “lay down your weapons”

And which shall I lay down first, I asked?

The gun, the bomb,

Poison and torture, to name a few?

Well, these are only the external tools and means

Behind much more destructive weapons

The real weapons lie within you

Which began when you abandoned your soul

When you forgot yourself

And became a parody

A mere imitation of who you really are

You did such a thing in order

To fight back the demons

Of self-abandonment?

To assuage your greatest fears

Of self-neglect, judgment, and denial

Could it be you thought finding yourself

Meant accepting something outside of yourself

To measure your worth by?

Is this not another internalized weapon?

The parroting of what others have said

The weapon of fitting in

Like a piece in a puzzle

To a picture that was never yours

To begin with and all done

So you could feel safe and secure

Within the predictable ease of common consent

And the weapon of majority rule

We can be in agreement to disagree

We can be strong

While we bend like a willow

Uniquely individual and universally one

We can be cooperative and helpful

Without being subservient

We can kiss the earth

And lift our heads to the sky

In gratitude for what humbles us

And enjoy that which enables us to soar

We can have what allows us to thrive

And offer the same to everyone

So, dear heart of my heart…

Wean yourself off of the alcohol of hate

Lay down your weapons

Of doubt, superiority, intolerance, and prejudice

Of self-loathing, competition, and pride

The weapons of arrogance and indifference

The impatient grasping

For that which you have never created

With respect, devotion, and love

Your greatest weapons

Have always been within you

Lay those weapons down

And all wars will cease

The arsenals will fall away

And Peace will become our greatest legacy

Only then will we all

Especially our children

Flourish

And be nourished

By the fruit and milk of Love.

In earnest and with all my heart

I wish this to be so.

-TruGuy Starhorse

Feb 25, 2024

(Image by Peter Schmidt from Pixabay)