A beautiful poem and a beautiful book to begin our morning. John Marsden is an Australian educator, thinker, and writer who brings everyone to the brink... and sometimes beyond. His Prayer for the 21st Century, a poem accompanied by images, inspires many.
You can watch a video illustration of the poem by Canadian schoolchildren, learn about Anzac day, see how John feels about Avocado Day, and google your heart away.
Sketches, collages, images, and hopes.
Here's the poem. Read it. Sing it. Dance it. Pantomime it. Illustrate it. See where it takes you.
A PRAYER FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
May the road be free for the journey,
May it lead where it promised it would.
May the stars that gave ancient bearings
Be seen and be understood:
May every aircraft fly safely;
May every traveler be found;
May sailors in crossing the seas,
Not hear the cries of the drowned.
May gardens be wild like jungles,
May nature never be tamed.
May dangers create of us heroes,
May fears always have names.
May the mountains stand to remind us
Of what it means to be young;
May we be outlived by our daughters,
May we be outlived by our sons.
May the bombs rust away in the bunkers,
And the doomsday clock be rewound;
May the solitary scientists, working,
Remember the holes in the ground.
May the knife remain in the holder,
May the bullet stay in the gun,
May those who live in the shadows
Be seen by those in the sun.
