Peace Pipe

I smoked a peace pipe today, for you.

I squatted and inserted myself in the circle of those praying for peace.
I saw Native American young men waiting for the pipe
Saw Chinese women turning from the fields when the pipe was passed to them
I conjured a little girl looking for her delft hidden in the hillside, from a former life
Heard an old man laugh when he had exhaled and coughed
The tobacco was strong and he was not used to its burn as he inhaled.
I smoked a peace pipe
And thought of you.

I stood and hips creaking waited for the pain to subside
Thought of how many others had stood from squatting
To feel the same reminder of their age
Thought of how easily little children squat and rise
Bend and reach
Run and jump
Their bodies at ease in whatever state they are in.
Mine was that way once, I remember.
Yours must have been that way, too.

I thought of the trees moving with the wind
I heard the rustling corn in the field behind me
Yellow and dry, waiting to be mowed over and left
To return to the soil that had produced it
I thought of people travelling in airplanes the world over
Thought of people even now climbing into bed
On the other side of this world where night has fallen and it is time to end the day
Thought of others just now rising, day about to begin,
And I thought again of you.

I thought of atoms and molecules and time and space
Thought of how the air now moving
The wind now blowing
Mysterious effect of this world
Must have been, only moments before,
Elsewhere.
Thought of how the air I breathed
Had been air breathed by others
Long ago,
Not just my children, squatting down themselves,
Rising up themselves,
But generations from history
Breathing that special combination of chemicals that
Feel so good and so right
In our lungs.
Air that is blowing even now
Toward you, and you will breathe it, too.

I prayed for peace
For you
I prayed for love
For you
I prayed for protection
For you
To be kept safe while the storm
Rages all around.
I thought of prayer and how it is
A mystery like the wind.
I do not know from whence it comes
I do not know where I send it.
I know this:
I thought of you.

I smoked a peace pipe
For you today.