Scores of Readings Held Around the World
Poets Vow to Continue Working for Peace

March 22, 2003

Even as bombs destroy Baghdad and other Iraqi towns, lovers of poetry have
continued to gather to read poems and cry out for peace over the past 72
hours. In Karachi, Pakistan, poets, writers and intellectuals of the Arts
Council gathered at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture in a
reading titled "SPEAK OUT! Poetry for Peace," sponsored by Tehrik
Khidmatunnas Secretriate, a charity organization. In Temuco, Chile, poets
gathered in a Wednesday reading called "Words Against War." In Tucson,
Arizona, poets held a reading and non-violent public protest against the
attack on Iraq, called "Poets' Brains Chained to the Ground," at the
Federal Courthouse. And in Seattle, poets gathered at the Richard Hugo
House for a 4-hour poetry vigil Friday, declared World Poetry Day by UNESCO
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Poets Against the War converged, read poetry, and lifted their voices in
protest at Acqui Terme, Italy; Austin, Texas; and London, Ontario, Canada.
In the remote little town of Gustavus-Glacier Bay, Alaska, the Gustavus
Peace Poets met at their local library to read their own poems and
selections from poetsagainstthewar.org, and to deliver a copy of the
anthology of 13,000 poems to the Superintendent of the Glacier Bay National
Park and Preserve.

The beat goes on. From Paris to Pisa to Philadelphia, poets are speaking
out for a world in which compassion and non-violence will ultimately
prevail over the Bush administration's philosophy that horrendous crimes
are justifiable in the service of its unilateralist agenda. Our call for
peace is more critical than ever before. Please join us. Organize a
reading. Join a protest. Lift your voice.

Create a reading of Poetry Against the War. Go to
http://poetsagainstthewar.org/createreading.asp.

Create a presentation to a government or organization of 13,000 antiwar
poems, a roster of 12,000 poets and a showcase of 35 chapbook poems. Go to
http://poetsagainstthewar.org/downloadpoems.asp.

While it is important to record and acknowledge the deep sadness and sense
of devastation so many of us feel, we must continue to channel and broaden
our efforts for peace and justice. Remember that history is made by
millions. Together we have created a presence on the world stage that can
serve as a limit and counterweight to future wars, and the seed of a
healthier world created by the conscience of the true majority.

We encourage you to read a thoughtful, eloquent article at Common Dreams by
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ian Urbina titled Antiwar Thinking: Acknowledge
Despair, Highlight Progress on Moral Preemption.

 -- Your friends at poetsagainstthewar.org.

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