It’s grueling (the wait and see) and we are hoping, walking on

Pins and needles like an Egyptian plover in the crocodile’s

Jaws, picking food from the teeth. Will it stand? For a day,

An hour, minutes: what I know in spite of Scripture, is that

Right now, we are past the bare minimum of anthropoid and

The terrorists are releasing the hostages-living hearts and

Long-cooled bones-the hostages are being released. And

Tomorrow is sufficient for itself. Yes, tomorrow will worry

About itself. Each day is sufficient for itself and peace,

However long it lasts, peace is finding its feet, yawing and listing

Into morning (God we see some braise of morning rays)

Light like a young colt finding its feet-and peace, out of the

Peacelessness of hell’s bloody surfeit is happening and there

Is something to be said for the simple existence of peacemakers

When the going’s been dark and the dark of heart have been

Going. All we can do is hope, like a mother and father over

A preemie baby in a NICU unit on the night of delivery.

God bless the peacemakers and quietude of the killing-grounds.

I am going to hope, though I know better.


Because the hostages have been freed.


And God bless the peacemakers.


God bless them.


Let them see heaven-let them walk on the gold cobblestones

Of the empyrean streets.


Let their names be writ on the ether’s vellum.

Todd French is a Christian Conservative Church Deacon. He enjoys poetry, literature, history, the arts, and bird-watching. He resides in Fountain Valley, CA, in Orange County with his wife and three daughters. His work encompasses a variety of themes, including Current Events.