Bob was convinced in the later years of his life that the most important wellness issue was World Peace.
He often used his poem to emphasize the importance of peace.
“The only known fertilized condor egg in North America was destroyed today when it was pushed from a ledge by two condors fighting with one another near the nest. The scene was observed from a distance of over one mile by an ornithologist with spy glasses.”
- A news report, March 6, 1982
Who
knows what caused the
argument
A
pulled feather, a scrap
of food
Some
pecking order or territoriality
overlooked
Or
perhaps it was no argument
at all
Only
a mock fight or dance that
looked like argument
To
the ornithologist observing from
a distance
Separated
by both space and species
from knowing
Exactly
what was happening
and why
As
all of us are separated
from the universe
And
from each other and
often from ourselves
All
that we know for sure is
that it happened
The
ill fated egg crashed
to the rocks below
Pushed
from the nest and cliff ledge
albeit accidentally
By
fluttering wing tips
or unknowing feet
Thrown
into space more yielding
than the sky
Hurtling
downward in an arc
of fate
Until
nothing was left but
splattered shell and yoke
And
silence where the hope of life
had been
The
mated condors barely paused
to look
Accepting
fate as we accept
our wars
Knowing
that some will die
but not yet us.
Expecting
that life will
continue on
And
that new lives
will reappear
Trusting
that a single
loss
Will
not destroy
us all
Unless
the life is ours
or someone else’s
Who
means so much
to us
That
it will seem
like ours
Wars
are impersonal like
the destruction of an egg
They
make us think
that death
Doesn’t
matter
if it’s not our own
If
we are not careful
we too
May
push the eggs
from our nests
is destroyed
And
there is only silence
and a deep longing
And
a loneliness
that will last forever.