Prayer for Peace
by Timothy Miller
[written on September 15, 2001]

There is no invincibility.
Nobody is invulnerable
Against hatred which strikes from hiding
And shatters lives without warning,
Leaving smoke and shadows
And the cries of victims:
The families of the dead,
The wounded who live still,
And those untouched in body
Yet stricken to the heart.
All these are victims, along with the actual dead
But few now live who hear the cries of ghosts.

Our invulnerability lies in ruins
With the rubble of shattered buildings
And the tears of broken lives.
Let no one abroad say,
"I am an American,"
For fear that in doing so
They will make themselves a target.
Let students try to hide themselves;
We stand out anyway, but we
Can do so a little less.

Today has been set aside
For a nation to mourn.
Other countries lend their voices
In support of our grief;
They have already pledged their unity
To our revenge:
This was not an attack on America,
But on the world that thinks itself civilized
And condemns those we call barbarians.
We will not let this attack go unanswered;
We will sate the unheard cries of ghosts with blood.
We must retaliate, for
America has never lost a war.

I do not want revenge, though I have been hurt as well. Better to appear weak before the world Than to call forth more innocent ghosts

Who is this "we"?
Do I imagine that the ghosts
Cry only for an end to violence?
Or is this truth?
If it is truth, do I hear it
From ghosts, from angels,
Or from the depths of my own heart?
I do not want revenge, though I have been hurt as well.
Better to appear weak before the world
Than to call forth more innocent ghosts
To cry out against endless violence
Like that which ended their mortality.
I fear the promise of revenge as the harbinger of war
Such as the first strike only sought to suggest.
This is not Pearl Harbor.
This is senseless, death delivered on an airliner
With no return address
Or status of residence.
Wars are declared for reasons greater than
"We can hurt you, so we will."
Only America would declare war for revenge,
Although we always claim loftier goals.

Yes, find the terrorists.
They will not pay for their deeds, even in blood,
For they will become martyrs
Rather than regret their righteous deeds.
But please find them,
And discriminate between the terrorists
And those who harbor them.
Let this end in peace, not war,
And give rest to ghosts
Rather than increase their number.

Let hells grow empty As souls are reborn to wiser lives And let the heavens slowly fill With souls who shine like stars.

More than all else, I cry
For an end to the killing.
Let hells grow empty
As souls are reborn to wiser lives
And let the heavens slowly fill
With souls who shine like stars.
This is the only invulnerability:
To live in peace with all the world.
One can only live without being hurt
If none desires to hurt you.
So shall I seek to live my days in peace,
But this task demands a whole world's strength:
The civilized and barbarian united.
Will you share invincibility
With me, with loved ones,
And with enemies?
This is the only way. Let those who hate
Receive peaceful deaths without passing their torch of hatred
To any who will bear it.
Let us be invincible together
Before we become immortal.
The heavens will bestow immortality
Soon enough.
Today I heard prayers for peace.
Let us play God one time
And work to grant those prayers.

(Note: This poem may be reprinted WITH ATTRIBUTION for non-profit purposes by consent of the author.)

Timothy R. Miller is a University of Maryland (Baltimore County) student, majoring in Japanese Studies & English, and studying this academic year (August 2001 to July 2002) in Tokyo at Kanda University. He has been a member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship since high school and is a past convenor of the Maryland Chapter of EPF. He is a communicant of Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Baltimore. He can be reached by email at <trmiller@bcpl.net> and his journal of this year's experience can be read at http://www.livejournal.com/~shachihoko