A letter to all the peace groups in Israel and Palestine: To all who work for peace and peace of mind for all concerned:

A few years ago I had the profound pleasure to walk through the Bouchart Gardens in British Colombia, Canada. I was moved by the multitude of flowers, all sizes, shapes and colors. Each batch had their own boundary yet thrived very, very close to one another, touching one another.

I was surrounded by the display, radiating in the sunlight from above and below. The garden had formerly been a rock quarry, and had many levels. My walk lasted about forty-five minutes. The thought persisted during my walk of how magnificently benign nature inherently is, reminding myself that killing is for food, not for domination, revenge nor for sport, and how nature, left uncorrupted, maintains sublime balance within her species of flora and fauna. By the end of this tour a song had written itself in my mind, a song I call “Bouchart Gardens,” the lyrics of which are:

Took a walk in the garden. Took a walk in the sun.
No end to the flowers, no sight where they begun.
Filled my lungs with their incense, filled my mind with love,
filled my eyes with their glory
from below and from above.

My heart took flight in fancy,
saw the world as it could be.
Saw the world as a garden upon a thriving sea.
Flowers in the garden, flowers side by side,
a multitude of colors in peace they do abide.
Why the different colors, why the different hues?
Each seeking out survival with different things to do.
Underneath the soil twining round and round,
roots of the flowers, sharing treasures of the ground.

Take a walk in the garden.
Take a walk in the sun.
Love the human flowers; touch them one by one.
Humans are a garden, reaching for the sun,
splendid in their colors, splendid one by one.

‘Bless you for your work, your courage and hope. Let us walk to the centers of power, stay, sing and demand peace. Underneath their fear, anger and narrow interests beats a human heart. It too will melt from the heat of our fierce passion and love, and yearn for peace and sanity.