Mir Peace, A Word Study In Humanity's Connections Poem by Kimberly Burnham

Disguised in Cyrilic
unfamiliar Russian letters
мир mir mip means peace
as Russia and the Ukraine
struggle against each
the same word waiting between

Ancient records evidence
mir peace in Serbia dances
across the page dressed in a Cyrillic alphabet
Roman letters marching to the same beat as English
Arabic script flowing peace from right to left

Mir peace in the Czech Republic
and Bosnian
words of peace in Bulgaria
Belarus Serbia
Montenegro and Macedonia

Bulgarian mir spoken in hope-filled tones
in Bulgaria TurkeyRomania
Russian mir given voice in so many lands
Moldova Belarus Estonia
Latvia Lithuania
Armenia Azerbaijan
Georgia and Central Asia
mir to all in these lands

In Croatia mir written in Roman letters
familiar to a Westerner
words still in Croatian and Czech
again mir in Slovene
peace moves on an out breath
in Slovenia Austria and Italy
mir peace borrowed by the Portuguese

Mir a common Muslim family name
in Pakistan Bangladesh and India
a short form of Arabic's Amir prince
Hebrews' Amir exalted summit of a tree
or mountain
while old Polish personal names miron
hold fast to the elements of peace quiet esteem

Miron or myron from myrrh
a fragrant resin incense perfume
wafts over the land
lubomir loves peace in Polish
miroslav a peace celebration
casimir the Polish bringer of peace
miro medieval personal names
of Germanic origin border on
the French variant of mire
all the while
zamir for peace in slavonic
resembles a common male Muslim name
zameer ضمیر
heart or conscience

Russion мир also means world
the perspective of a village
nestled in a beautiful countryside
local people live in communal proximity
sharing limited resources
heat in harsh winters
exclusion from the mir
almost certain death

Mir the name of a space station
peacefully floating in the air we all breath
over a land we share