TO ALL WOMEN! (a poem cycle)
(Quaker Library WAR Box 1, pamphlet 5, 1917)
a found poetry cycle by
The Time Bank Purple Poets
(and friends Bernard Miller, and Katja Schmidt)
from the 'Purple Poets and Peace'pfroject

co-produced with the Quaker Library and the Purple Poets


POEM 1:
From a German Woman
(corrected text by Katya Schmidt, translation by Bernard Miller)

Protest! Protest! Die Stimmen hoch und laut!
Ihr Frauen auf, soweit dies Elend graut!
Die Menschheit blutet! Es ist EUER Blut!
Man schlagt das Leben tot. Und es ist EUER Gut!
Ihr habt's gegeben und Ihr habt's bewacht!
Protest! Protest! Bei EUER Liebe Macht!

(written by MARIE ENGELMANN
Dresden, November 1914)

Protest! Protest! Let your voices clearly boom!
Women arise! Stand against the lowering gloom!
Mankind lies bleeding. Its blood came from YOUR womb.
Life itself is cut down. It was YOU who made it bloom.
It was you who gave it and you who watched from above.
Protest! Protest! Through the power of YOUR love.


Protest!

Protest!

Protest!

Protest, You Women!
Where-ever you see WAR

Underneath God's Sky
Raise your voices high!

Protest!

Protest!

Mankind is bleeding blood!
That blood is ours!

Mankind is killing life,
Those lives are ours!

Protest!

Protest!

Protest!



POEM 2:
THE FULL HORROR OF WAR:
From One Who is in the Midst of It
(A German Soldier's Appeal to Women)


I've several times wondered
Why Women do not demand Peace.

This is the business of Women:

To put a stop

To the bitterness
Of national hatred

And for all women
To say to each other:

We will save our men

Further bloodshed
is senseless.

We will save our men
Of all nations.



POEM 3:
TO ALL WOMEN!
The Call of a Higher Humanity.
(a found poem from the writing of Emily Hobhouse)


Fellow women -

The War is crushing
Helpless millions.

The people
are perishing.

Mostly Women
And Children.

Women
And Children.

We ask: must it continue?
We ask: why must it continue!

We ask: why?


POEM 4.
from LETTER FROM A FRENCH MOTHER
November 21st, 1914


My two sons
Have been in the trenches
Since the end of September
And have never slept
In a bed

It would be nothing
If the cold
Had not set in
So dreadfully

If you cannot make Peace
At least make a truce
And save thousands and thousands
Of human lives.


POEM 5:

6. from the MANIFESTO OF SWISS WOMEN, 1915


We wish our sons and daughters
To be heroic
But not on the battlefield
Where people murder
And are murdered.


Down with War!

a short reading from the
Purple Poets and Peace
TO ALL WOMEN! (1917)
(found poems from Quaker Peace testimonies)

NOTES (by Katja Schmidt)
extracts of found poetry by The Time Bank Purple Poets
from a larger on-going project co-produced by the Quaker Centre
and the Purple Poets

1914 - From a German Woman

Protest!

Protest! Protest! Die Stimmen hock??? und laut! Probably hoch = high, hock="to crouch"
Ihr Frauen auf, soweit dies Elend graut!
Die Menschheit blutet! Es ist EUER Blut!
Man schlägt das Leben tot. Und es ist EUER Gut!
Ihr habt's gegeben und Ihr habt's bewacht!
Protest! Protest! Bei Eurer Liebe Macht!
--MARIE ENGELMANN
--Dresden, November 1914

Katya's Rough Translation:

Protest! Protest! The voices high and strong!
You women move, as far as this wretchedness raises its ugly head!
Mankind is bleeding! It is YOUR blood!
They beat your Life to death. And it belongs to YOU!
You gave (life) and you watched over it!
Protest! Protest! By the power of your Love!

The direct translation vor Elend is probably misery. But I think this "Elend" is not a (self)-pitying matter. Rather a clearly man-inflicted thing, i.e. misery as in ghetto, as in torture, as in screaming poverty, as in blood and horror of wounded soldiers in dirty trenches. I do not have a dictionnary here in the office. I thought: wrechtedness could be a good translation, because it could relate both to an inflictor and the inflicted. Is that right? How about squalor?

"graut" actually means "to dawn" as in "der Morgen graut" = morning dawns. But if combined with Dativ "mir graut vor dem Morgen" it means something totally different, namely: "I dread this morning". I think the latter meaning is connotated in the use of the word in this poem. Hence I opt for "raises its ugly head".



BITHI DAS
THE 6th OF AUGUST: Afghanistan

My guru Kim asked me to write something for today and read it in front
of my fellow travellers. My writing is:

Today
the 6th of August
Hiroshima Day.
The World is celebrating
Today - the Day of Peace.

Today, we are in
a war-torn country
it is not only our journey
to discover Afghanistan
but also, in a way, a Peace mission.

Our contribution to
poor naked people
will be to give them love
and happiness
during our journey.

Peace
is a very powerful word.
When there is a war
there will be a peace
so our prayer for today is:

Peace
on earth
and every corner
God save his children.
Amen.

Bithi composed and read this poem on August 6th 2010 to fellow travellers Danny (journalist, New York), Peter (Professor, Seattle), Valerie (anthropologist, Winnipeg), Cameron (retired lecturer Eton College, Slough), Kent (businessman, Thailand), Sue (importer/exporter, Balham, London) and Jess, group leader for Hinterland Travel (Yorkshire) at the breakfast table, of  The Bamyan Guest House, Bamyan, Afghanistan.

more found Poetry - Peace Testimonies

THE PURPLE POETS INCLUDE:

Babushka, Bithi Das, Brenda Stevenson, Carol Moon, Eileen Francis, Eppie Caredda, Ferdous Rahman, Islam Molla, Jean Watt, Kathy Randle, Nahar Islam, Norah Platt, Patsy Futatsugi, Shelagh Beale, Steve Maly. The Purple Poets and Peace Quaker testimonies project also includes members of the Third Age Project TADs drama group.

OUR PURPLE POETS  WEBSITE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF FOUNDING PURPLE POET KATHY RANDLE AND ROSE HACKER Time Banks and Time Banking The Four Core Values. 1. We treat people as assets. We support the positive actions people can and want to do for their community. 2. We are re-defining work Regardless of the task,   everyone's time is valued equally we value whatever it takes to make neighbourhoods safe and vibrant. 3.We reciprocate. We require that everyone gives something back ensuring all in our society have the opportunity to be involved in their community. 4. We support the development of social networks. These require ongoing investments of social capital generated by trust, reciprocity and civic engagement.

Bloomsbury Time Bank
PURPLE POETS

For more information about any of our projects
www.purplepoets.com

............................................................

TBUK Time Banking UK, The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud GL5 1DF Tel: 01453 750952 info@timebanks.co.uk............................................................

Bloomsbury Time Bank
10.10.2010