SOME
(to the Plowshares 8, with love)
by Daniel Berrigan
Some stood up once, and sat down.
Some walked a mile, and walked away.
Some stood up twice, then sat down.
"It's too much," they cried.
Some walked two miles, then walked away.
"I've had it," they cried.
Some stood and stood and stood.
They were taken for fools,
they were taken for being taken in.
Some walked and walked and walked –
they walked the earth,
they walked the waters,
they walked the air.
"Why do you stand?" they were asked, and
"Why do you walk?"
"Because of the children," they said, and
"Because of the heart," and
"Because of the bread."
"Because the cause is
the heart's beat, and
the children born, and
the risen bread."
Honoring the Plowshares 8
30th anniversary of the Plowshares Eight action
On September 9, 1980, eight people entered a General Electric weapons factory in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where critical components for nuclear warheads were manufactured. With hope and a prayer, the activists entered the secure facility with relative ease. On the shop floor, they took household hammers and began beating on the missile warhead cones, giving substance to the biblical call of the prophet Isaiah to "beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks."
The symbolism – indeed, the manifest reality – of people with hand tools simply beginning the work of nuclear disarmament inspired a movement now thirty years old, and international in scope. Scores of action groups, involving hundreds of people as activists and supporters, have kept this vision of disarmament alive despite jail and prison sentences of up to 18 years.
(to the Plowshares 8, with love)
by Daniel Berrigan
Some stood up once, and sat down.
Some walked a mile, and walked away.
Some stood up twice, then sat down.
"It's too much," they cried.
Some walked two miles, then walked away.
"I've had it," they cried.
Some stood and stood and stood.
They were taken for fools,
they were taken for being taken in.
Some walked and walked and walked –
they walked the earth,
they walked the waters,
they walked the air.
"Why do you stand?" they were asked, and
"Why do you walk?"
"Because of the children," they said, and
"Because of the heart," and
"Because of the bread."
"Because the cause is
the heart's beat, and
the children born, and
the risen bread."
Honoring the Plowshares 8
30th anniversary of the Plowshares Eight action
On September 9, 1980, eight people entered a General Electric weapons factory in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where critical components for nuclear warheads were manufactured. With hope and a prayer, the activists entered the secure facility with relative ease. On the shop floor, they took household hammers and began beating on the missile warhead cones, giving substance to the biblical call of the prophet Isaiah to "beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks."
The symbolism – indeed, the manifest reality – of people with hand tools simply beginning the work of nuclear disarmament inspired a movement now thirty years old, and international in scope. Scores of action groups, involving hundreds of people as activists and supporters, have kept this vision of disarmament alive despite jail and prison sentences of up to 18 years.
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