THE PEACE POEM
Every primary (grades k-6), middle (grades 7-9) and secondary (grades 10-12) school (including homeschools)
around the world was invited to submit, via e-mail, two lines of poetry about peace to the United Nations.
Once collected, the lines were collated together into one long Peace Poem,
and redistributed to all participants as well as posted on the Web.
Submissions were accepted from 16 September through 24 October 1997 in English, French, and Spanish.
Submissions were limited to one per school and school level.
Poems came in from 38 countries around the world.
PREFACE
Ce long poème consacré à la paix, fruit de la réflexion et de la conviction de milliers d’enfants de par le monde, est pour moi comme une guirlande d’espoir qui, par la vertu des nouveaux moyens de télécommunication, ceint notre planète, en se riant des nationalités et des frontières.In their wisdom, the children whose intermingled voices gave birth to the Peace Poem know that peace is far more than the absence of war. Children know that peace comes from the heart; it lives in the way we see others; it survives in the respect we show our neighbors every day. They also know, often better than adults, that today’s world is a global village and that we are all neighbors.
Sepamos escuchar a los niños poetas. Sus palabras sencillas y elocuentes nos recuerdan las verdades esenciales, pilares sobre los que sustentan la paz y la concordia : conocer y aceptar a los demás y, en ellos, reconocer nuestra humanidad com?.
- Kofi A. Annan
Stop and write some happy rhymes about the peace we need.
Then you can proceed on your way to hand it over for all to read.
Basic school, Fabryho
Kosice, Slovakia
The value of human life has to tower
above the preciousness of the biggest diamond.
Hauptschule Weer
Schulgasse, Weer, Austria
L’Amour + l’entendement + l’egalité - la haine - l’ignorance - la violence = LA PAIX.
Qui dit que les maths ne sont pas une langue universelle?
Parkway South Middle School
Manchester, MO, US
for more of The Peace Poem:
http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/peaceday/poem.asp