A Palimpsest For Peace Poem by C Richard Miles

Cross words cross across crossed wires.
Cross-purposes cross reconciliation off the list
as, crosswise, clockwise and counter-clockwise
fight for costly cross-border dominance.
Cross voices cross between cross and crescent.
Quiescent sense lessens strength and ends
in senselessness as curses crush courtesy.
Cross-eyed viewpoints squint crossly
as cross-cultural conferences collapse,
yet, crucially, crossed-fingers aloft,
if antagonists acquiesced in crossing over
to foster lost respect and tolerance,
we could cross off the past of bitterness,
gross antipathy and once-crossed swords,
as cross-cooperation is consummated
as effortlessly as simply casting away
an anachronistic acrostic cryptic crossword.