after Pablo Neruda

let us sit
without movement, without words

harmless
not trampling the ant
or butchering the steer

neither selling nor buying
no birthing, no dying

fisherfolk transfixed above the wave
carpenters silent by the bench

. . . . . poet

lay down your pen
let every hand be still ~
slow the racing heart,
the speed-demon mind

let us now praise the peace

” . . . we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.”  Pablo Neruda, “Keeping Quiet“

© 2015, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved