Give Peace a Chance - 1. Chapter 1

Give Peace a Chance

We speak as if the earth itself trembles

beneath our shouting—

as if division were new,

a crack just now forming in the pavement.

But the truth is older,

etched in the ink of our beginnings.

Even Washington heard the noise—

arguments over taxes, treaties,

the shape of freedom itself.

And still, the republic held.

Still, compromise stitched the torn seams.

Now the air hums with urgency,

voices rising like sirens,

each certain they alone

carry the cure for the wound.

But passion is not always wisdom,

and volume is not always truth.

There are ears that hear danger

where none was meant,

minds that twist words

into weapons.

So we must speak softer,

choose calm over clamor,

remember that peace

is not weakness—

it is courage in quiet form.

We have been divided before,

and we have found our way back.

Let us do so again,

not through fear,

but through listening.

As the old song pleads—

give peace a chance.