Canarese Peace Signals Poem by Kimberly Burnham

Salam Salamu
peace safety signaled
by a salutation accompanying
the raising of the hand
to the forehead in Canarese
a kind of peaceful sign language
seen from a distance to great
to be heard

Salla the peace
of reconciliation
while the easy quiet composed
and comfort of bodily health
or ease of mental composure
is swasta swastha
also the peace of favorable external circumstances

Sandhi a chapter
pacification mediation
making peace and friendship
at the junction or union or combination
at the same time means a hole made in a wall
for hostile or felonious purposes
seeming the opposite of peace

And back to the body
a joint an articulation of the body
as well as the union of two letters
at the end or beginning of different words
the place where the letters meet
in sandhi making peace

A fourth word of peace
samajd and yisi samaddyisi
is the peace of satisfaction
a calm word meant to comfort and apease
quietly satisfy and pacify
like a well made meal

Samddhana rounds out the quintuplet
meaning peace tranquility
conciliation consent
agreements reconciling differences
among the Kanara in southwestern India

And finally the peace and quiet of happiness
hai means happy and oddly a sail
as if a day out on the water in the wind and sun
can make one feel hai