PEACE IN OUR TIME
- Jean Rafferty
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 41 minutes ago
Dove Tales appeared at the Big Lit festival in Gatehouse of Fleet on 20th July 2025. Two of our poets created new work for the event.
Image by Denis Doukhan, Pixabay
ANNE DUNFORD
When
will we ever see peace in our time
is that what the Trojans said
in the twelve days of peace
they had to bury Hector.
is that what has been said
every century
every year
by every mother
every wife
every sister
every father
every brother
every lover
every friend
ever since then
on every continent
we ask these questions
we know the answer
and ask again                   why?
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On Finishing Reading ‘The Iliad’
We wondered if
we wondered if
soldiers these days had to fight
with swords on the battlefield
looking the enemy straight in the eye
could they kill
could they destroy many lives
what if they could see
into the enemy’s houses
see mothers bathing babies
what if they could see
all the injured lying crying
in hospital beds
what if they could see
their elderly parents
unable to run away to safety
what if they were so close
to opponents they could see
themselves mirrored in their eyes
if leaders of this world
were leading armies into battle
would we still have so many wars?
Anne Dunford – Anne has had poems published in a number of magazines, anthologies and online - most recently in Stravaig # 15 & 16, the journal for Scottish Geopoetics. She has read her work at BIG Lit and Wigtown Book festivals and also posts regularly on her blog https://annedunford.wordpress.com Life’s a Beach - Random Thoughts and Poems.
MARTIN STEPEK
Getting old
I’m getting old
I kind of feel it in my bones
I don’t mind it as such
It comes to everyone who is lucky enough to live to be old.
But some stuff wears me out
And war’s the worst of all
I’m old enough to remember Biafra
Vietnam
Cambodia
Nicaragua
The Falklands
Afghanistan a few times
Israel and Palestine several times, sometimes with neighbours involved
Myanmar
Pakistan India
Northern Ireland
Ukraine, Russia
I’m sure there were and are others
So forgive me if I’ve forgotten some
Are we really so lacking in skill and grace
On all sides
That we are unable to resolve these issues
And give us peace in our time?
Death reports
Janina died of starvation and exhaustion
Says her death report
Because of the war
Dad wasn’t able to be with his father
When the latter died
Because of the war
Marion was my dad’s cousin
Marion’s brother was murdered at Katyn
Aged twenty-one
And when their sister found out
Six years after the murder
She took her own life
So Marion lost two siblings
Because of the war.
Dad’s Uncle
Died of typhus
After spending over a year
In Soviet captivity
Because of the war
There isn’t enough time or space here
To recite the fate of the others
Who suffered so much
Because of the war.
Time to edge the grass
I have to stop writing this piece
Because my wife wants me
To strim the edge of the grass
Or cut the grass
Or sweep the patio
These things I can do
And in fact I’ll do them all
Because I am at home
My time is free
And there is peace
In our homeland.
That’s all we want
Time and safety
To edge the grass
Cut the grass
And sweep the patio
And this requires
Peace in our time
Martin Stepek - Author of six books on living mindfully, five volumes of poetry, and a historical memoir of his father's early life..
His first book, "For There is Hope" winner of a NABE award in 2013, was described by New York Times and Observer book reviewer Neal Ascherson as "this astonishing poem, at once a monument, a meditation, a prayer and an epic... should be on every table where Poland is discussed".
His classic A Pocket Guide to Mindfulness, has been described as "a breath of fresh air" amongst the mass of dry, academic books on the subject.
In March 2024 he published his long-awaited memoir on his father, Jan Stepek's early life, Jan Stepek, Part 1: Gulag to Glasgow.
Martin has delivered readings and talks at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the University of Warsaw, and the Royal Institute, London, and also in as diverse settings as primary schools through to some of the highest security prisons in the UK.
