I Hold in My Hand

John DeStefano

Age 11

 

I hold in my hand a handshake of peace,

To give my fellow man.

No matter his color or the language he speaks

Or if he comes from a far away land.

 

I hold in my hand a handshake of peace,

No matter how hard it may be.

When there are feelings of anger and pain.

And loss of liberty.

 

To wake up one day and find out our nation

Will never be the same,

I will scream and shout and fight till the end,

For each and every name.

 

I hold in my hand a handshake of peace,

When peace is not what I feel,

To hurt my country and cause it harm is never part of the deal.

 

And though I was told so many times “forgive and turn the other cheek,”

Those words seem so hard to understand

When the sadness makes us feel weak.

 

I hold in my hand a handshake of peace,

But I choose to keep it inside,

How can anyone ever expect us to forgive

When so many people died?

 

But a new day comes and time passes by,

To wipe the anger away,

And I learn that only a few caused

The troubles of many today.

 

I hold in my hand a handshake of peace,

Even though, my hand may be small

And justice has to find its way,

To help us through this all

 

And we may be enemies or we may be friends,

Continents and oceans apart

But when I hold in my hand the handshake of peace,

It is a present from my heart.