The Voice

In the quiet of my soul

I can hear the hushed echo

of my own yearnings for peace

the still but urgent voice

nudging

insisting

calling me forth

to the cutting edge of my own spirit

hammering on the door of my heart

when all around me

the sounds of hatred, violence, oppression

invade and strike relentlessly

like a battering gate unhinged in a storm.

Why? Why? Why me?

What can I do

comes the agonizing cry from

unknown depths within me

while answer eludes insistent questioning

yet the voice leads me on, not to yearn for

but to become peace, for only then

will I make a difference.

Listen...do you hear the voice too?