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Pray For Peace Pray to whomever you kneel down to: Jesus nailed to his wooden or plastic cross, his suffering face bent to kiss you, Buddha still under the bo tree in scorching heat, Adonai, Allah. Raise your arms to Mary that she may lay her palm on our brows, to Shekhina, Queen of Heaven and Earth, to Ianna in her stripped decent. Then pray to the bus driver who takes you to work. on the bus, pray for everyone riding that bus, for everyone riding buses all over the world. Drop some silver and pray. Waiting in line for the movies, for the ATM, for your latte and croissant, offer your plea. Make your eating and drinking a supplication. Make your slicing of carrots a holy act, each translucent layer of the onion, a deeper prayer. To Hawk or Wolf, or the Great Whale, pray. Bow down to terriers and shepherds and Siamese cats. Fields of artichokes and elegant strawberries. Make the brushing of your hair a prayer, every strand its own voice, singing in the choir on your head. As you wash your face, the water slipping through your fingers, a prayer: Water, softest thing on earth, gentleness that wears away rock. Making love, of course, is already prayer. Skin, and open mouths worshipping that skin, the fragile cases we are poured into. If you're hungry, pray. If you're tired. Pray to Gandhi and Dorothy Day. Shakespeare. Sappho. Sojourner Truth. When you walk to your car, to the mailbox, to the video store, let each step be a prayer that we all keep our legs, that we do not blow off anyone else's legs. Or crush their skulls. And if you are riding ona bicycle or a skateboard, ina wheelchair, each revolution of the wheels a prayer as the earth revolves: Less harm, less harm, less harm. And as you work, typing with a new manicure, a tiny palm tree painted on one pearlescent nail or delivering soda or drawing good blood into rubber-capped vials, writing on a blackboard with yellow chalk, twirling pizzas-- WIth each breath in, take in the faith of those who have believed when belief seemed foolish, who persevered. With each breath out, cherish. Pull weeds for peace, turn over in your sleep for peace, feed the birds, each shiny seed that spills onto the earth, another second of peace. Wash your dishes, call your morther, drink wine. Shovel leves or snow or trash from your sidewalk. Make a path. Fold a photo of a dead child around your VISA card. Scoop your holy water from the gutter. Gnaw your crust. Mumble along like a crazy person, stumbling your prayer through the streets.
Bass was born on June 16, 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Goucher College and graduated magna cum laude. Then went to Boston University to get her masters.' She now teaches at nationally and internatioally writing confrences and universities.
Ellen Bass
Ellen creates a warm and supportive environment for writers of every genre. You cannot help but be inspired and stimulated--and your writing blossoms. Teacher and writer, Sharon Bray
'If you knew' by Ellen Bass
-Ellen uses many, many sensory images. All of the places and the things all relate to what a person goes through in a single day. All are things we know. -Ellen uses personification a few times in the poem. A very noticable place is when she says making brushing your hair a prayer, with each strand is a voice. -Literary allusion is another poetic element Ellen likes you use. She devotes a whole stanza to using allusions such as Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Shakespeare, Sappho, and Sojourner Truth.
