Life has a ‘Happy Ever After’ fairy tale ending, I had hoped,

Till I heard about the innocent brood ruthlessly massacred

In secure confines of the safe haven they called their school.

The promise of their young lives drowned in a crimson pool.

Peace is as effortless as inhaling a breath of air, I had dreamt,

Till I saw the lifeless form of a three year old in blue and red

He still had his shoes on as if to embark on the journey of life.

But he lay face down on the beach, finally free from all strife.

The smallest caskets weighed heavy on my dreary thoughts

I was guilty of being safe while so many lives were sadly lost

“Peace is just a child’s fantasy,” a voice in my head screamed.

I ask of you, “Is peace a lost hope? Is it just a distant dream?”

As I pray for the departed, for the parents scarred with pain,

As I seek healing for families that will never be whole again,

My head hangs in shame for I cannot change the odious past.

But nothing stops me to sow seeds of peace in my own heart.

Race for supremacy may perhaps have razed humanity to dust,

We may have misplaced tolerance and love in the power lust.

Yet, till we have even a single shred of goodness to redeem,

Peace cannot be a lost hope. It cannot be a distant dream.

Diversity can be an asset if we stop making it a reason for war,

If we do not fall prey to misguided hatred that drives us apart.

Boundaries we draw on land do not stop rivers, birds or gales.

Then why borders divide us and cause our compassion to fail?

So let us break walls that divide lands into pieces- Yours, mine

And build bridges to create a peaceful world- Yours and mine!

Let us unite, Let us join hands, and march ahead as one team

Peace is our foremost hope; together we will fulfill this dream.