Peace Garden (Imperial War Museum - after Auden)

Susie Wright

Look stranger at this garden now,  

Its leafy light for your delight discover,

Stand stable here and silent be,

That through the traffic of the ear

In the shadow of conflicts, hear

The murmuring grind of the city.

At the peony corner pause,

where peace prayers are inscribed in stone.

Through the vistas of the garden see

a man sleeping, on his sheer side, half dead,

sheltering in the urban night,

resting for another day, shoes at his head.

The knock and pluck of souls,

is tidal on this well-kept lawn.

Human flotsam propelled by diverse currents,

beached here, momentarily and with longing.

To assuage deep fears,

with fragile dreams of hope and home

to become a resident here.