by Lauri Hoffman Bunting
Founder, Poems for Peace
www.poemsforpeace.org

Tiny urchins of the street
Miniature gurus of love
With little fingers pry away
The hard encasement of my heart

Gentle gazes deeply probe
And tap a warm nectar
Intoxication of the soul

Their essence, the anchor
And the wind that let’s me soar
Tiny gurus of Earth and sky
Teach me how
To walk and fly

Immersed in the moment
Allowing each to roll away
Their presence wipes away the past
Deflects thoughts of future days

My camera clicks incessantly
Visual cues for the memory
Chronicles of a cherished day

Concentrated package
Essence of joy and love
Wrapped in a blanket of charcoal skin
Melting chocolate irises
Rejoice with ink-drop pupils
Arking ebony eyelashes
Point skywards

Click

A stoic look, a frozen face
A camera-ready pose

Click, click

Shattered by a belly-full of giggles,
Pinched cheeks
And a row of glistening ivory

Click

Arms embrace
Guru clusters grow
Radiant eyes pierce through darkness
As stars alight the night sky

Click

Baby gurus swarm around
Eager to see what the camera found
Tiny fingers point as faces appear
Staccato squeals of foreign names
A melody of glee
A soft tap tapping of my heart
Melting boundaries

Little gurus of the street
Teachers of the heart
Why are you filled with such joy?
You’re forced to beg
You’re beaten
Victims of father’s drunken rage
You know not of fluffy quilts,
Fuzzy slippers, bed-time-stories
Ice-cream cones, warm snuggles,
Merry-go-rounds and roasted marshmallows

You trust
You love
You graciously receive
You trust

You are not seekers
But the bearers of truth
You fear not raging wind and rain
You are the keepers of the flame
Tiny gurus of the street
Epitome of love
I’m honored to spend this time with you
A gift from up above

Last spring, Buddha Smile School received an invitation for their students to participate in an international poetry exchange called Poems for Peace founded by Lauri Hoffman Bunting, Idaho, USA. In March, 2009, Lauri visited Buddha’s Smile School and was inspired by the children to write “Tiny Gurus.” The student’s poems may be viewed at www.poemsforpeace.org.

Last spring, Buddha Smile School received an invitation for their students to participate in an international poetry exchange called Poems for Peace. With great enthusiasm, eleven-year-old Daisy Saini embraced the idea and inspired 14 students from grades 5 and 6 to ponder the meaning of peace and express their thoughts in pictures and poems. Daisy also wrote a peace poem and her enthusiasm was contagious–many of the adults at BSS contributed their musings too.

Poems for Peace is a cross-cultural poetry exchange that aims to strengthen understanding between youth worldwide, enabling curiosity and knowledge to replace prejudice, apathy and fear. Students are asked to consider the meaning of peace, where it abides, how it is created, how it is destroyed and how, as peacemakers, they can contribute to world peace. All poems are posted on the Poems for Peace website, www.poemsforpeace.org.

Poems for Peace loosely describes a poem as any written expression that conveys a heart-felt message, an inner truth. It may appear as a letter, prayer, story, traditional poem or a picture. It’s through these expressions of the heart that one can see beyond the constructs of the mind and appreciate the common thread that unites us all.

So far, Poems for Peace has received poems from India, Nepal, Tibet Autonomous Region of China, Israel, Jamaica, Tanzania and The United States. For more information about Poems for Peace or to contribute a poem, please visit www.poemsforpeace.org.

Three poems:

Listen to our Prayers

God, please listen to our words of prayer:
By reading and writing, we become more skillful.
Always do the right things.
Let us make peace shine all over the world.
By Dharam Chand Kumar, 5th Grade, Age 12

My Heart Fills with Peace

When stars and moon get up at night
My heart fills with peace
When butterflies sit upon the flowers
To collect nectar and pollen
When rivers and seas dance
Then my heart fills up with peace.
By Mamta Kumar, 5th grade, age 10

Gandhi’s Teaching

Never see or speak wrong or cause harm to others.
Never pay attention to the negative things in the world.
This is the teaching of Mahatma Gandhi.
Everyone try to practice this valuable lesson,
Which will help everyone to attain peace,
A state of mind with no wars,
Only silence.
By Shiv Kumar Patel, 6th grade, age 11