Every time I see a dove
I look twice to see
if by chance it has an olive branch,
actually any branch, clasped
in its claws, for that would mean
the storm of the last years,
the wars, the abject poverty,
the amassing of wealth
for its own sake at the never
ending expense of others,
was coming to an end,
that the peace we all claim
to seek was at hand.
That’s how it worked in Genesis
but we’ve jumped ahead
and now we just wander aimlessly
in a desert of false promises
in wonder when we
will all perish in sight
of the promised land of peace.