Snow's Writing for 2019, 2020, & Beyond

Week 31 Form: Rondeau - Hope For a New Decade

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam1 flows through Earth's atmosphere,
Shattering the barriers of superstition and fear,
That separate the children of Adam into armed camps,
And concealing the light of unity within veiled lamps:
The Earth as a single family slowly becomes clear.

The hope for the present decade the phrase becomes love's spear,
That penetrates the hearts of hate to overcome our fear,
Changing xenophobia's bivouacs to world peace camps:
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

The "world is a single family" has become our cheer,
As hand-in-hand we march into the new decade and year,
Day-by-day we remove concealing veils from our bright lamps,
We are the angels of light, and we march against hate's camps,
Each of us armed with the phrase that has become Love's sharp spear:
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

Poet's Note: ▶︎

Form: Rondeau  
Number of Lines: 15
Rules: 15 lines long, consisting of three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet. Rhyming information below.
Meter: Lines 9 and 15 are short - a refrain (R) consisting of a phrase taken from line one. The other lines are longer (but all of the same metrical length).
Rhyme Scheme: aabba aabR aabbaR
Choices for the poets to make this week: Your poem can be about any topic.
Written for "Invalid Item" .
This poem was inspired by the article India’s president honors the Bab’s historic bicentenary https://news.bahai.org/story/1379/.

Footnotes
1  Sanskirt phrase meaning “the world is one single family.”