I pray for peace and find
it exists right in my back yard.

Feral/semi-feral cats come to feed
  and water
Squirrels come to feed and water
Birds come to feed and water
right in my back yard.

'Tho they eye one another
with a bit of scepticism
they all have their own sustinance;
no need to harm one another.

They are all welcomed in my back yard,
as there is love provided
in their feed and water,
and they absorb and learn well.

As I watch out my  window I see
a variety of birds feeding at seed-troughs,
and just two feet away I see
Poof (where's Whiffen?) stretched out
serenely, never in stance to pounce.

Soon a lone squirrel joins in the feeding -
squirrels enjoy the sunflower seed.
No birds flitter away in fright,
nor does the cat intimidate.

No need for filled-out forms;
no tax-exemption do I request;
no government red-tape involved...
I follow the Way of St. Francis of Assisi.

"Where there is hatred...let me sow Love
Where there is injury...Pardon
Where there is doubt...Faith
Where there is despair...Hope"

If we can bring together
these creatures of the air,
these creatures of land and trees,
how much more can be done...with love.

I pray for peace and find
it exists right in my back yard.
And while praying, I remember...
"It is in Giving...that we receive..."

© Jackie (Micke) Jinks, August 2009