Peace Within Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Peace within,
Begins with self.
And a mindset change.
To know what is needed.
For that peace to receive,
With it felt to believe.

Too many perceive,
Their peace is easily retrieved.
For them to inspect its quality
To then object,
As to how it should be given.
When, where, how and the time,
A peace to define it is accepted.

If peace is not inside for one to feel,
Nothing on the outside...
Can not make what is not felt,
Demanded from another...
To make 'their' peace,
More effectively presented.
In ways to convince someone else,
The reality of it.
As if given permission to manipulate.

And for many,
That is what peace shown and given...
Is meant for them to do.
Until there is nothing left of it.
Yet...
Kept pursued to undo its existence.
Allowing one an opportunity,
A feeling of being heroic.
Satisfying unending barbaric ambitions.

And...
For many,
This is what peace shown and given.
To inflict and release.
For that heroic feeling of victory.
Felt inside to stay.
Until a craving for more unleashes a need,
To seek again!