PEACE-ABILITY | for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
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a body of written, spoken & visual poems honoring the spirit of trucefulness; our deeper, shared humanity, and our ability and possibility as individuals, cultures and countries of people to be ever more peaceful within and between ourselves.
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as poet laureate of the Truce Foundation of the United States, created, curated and contributed as a unique poetorial, around the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. dedicated to the spirit of the Olympic Truce, its participants on and off the fields of play, the people of Korea and publicly honored "truce bearers." a bellwether poem of this cultural offering is "Peace-ability." another centerpiece is the musically-scored poem "The Times of Truce." all the specially-commissioned work is featured here, including the Truce Foundation's Trucefulness Award-poems below which were presented at the inaugural PyeongChang Forum for The Earth & Its Citizens; a high-level gathering of global influencers in Seoul, on the environment, on the eve of these Winter Games...and an honoring of all Paralympians competing in the follow-on Paralympics.
a peaceable spirit © colin goedecke
Peace-ability
How the reverence
for Ékécheiria
for this ancient Greek spirit
from the days of Olympia
and Elis, and the easeful
holding of hands,
unbearing of arms,
transcends millennia,
to this moment
of trucefulness.
Where Olympians
and modern pilgrims
travel and gather
with ease of way,
into a higher place.
One infused
with peaceability;
greater possibility.
Put aside differences
and didactics.
Enter the experience
with an unspoken unity;
a shared humanity.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
enter a still-point, some spoken, musical and peacefully moving moments to play and enjoy here, above...
The Times of Truce
When the blowing
winds cease.
When the swelling
seas settle down.
When the earth
enters a still point
near dawn,
near dusk.
Or the night skies
grow silent
with stars.
Whenever the world
of Nature
makes peace
with itself.
And Man
mirrors that
peace in himself;
gives free leave
to his fellow man.
These are the times
when rare and
graceful plumes of truce,
deep spirits of unity,
community
can be found and
greatly felt --
by everything living.
Be remembered and
honored --
by everyone,
young to old,
hearkening.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
classically formed © colin goedecke
Pindar
He tuned us, B.C.,
to the poetry
of Olympic feats;
his victory odes
to its athletes,
and Panhellenics --
of Corinth, Nemea,
Pythia. Made a
flower-petaled way
for much Olympian
musing; openings,
closings -- even
engravings, on medals
of burnished gold
and silver.
Pindar, passionate,
lyrical spirit; quasar.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
centuries later © colin goedecke
Centuries of Winters
Centuries of winters,
centuries of wars,
centuries of civilizations
and conquistadors
have not stopped the tides
from falling, or the moon
from rising; the beating
of birds’ wings
or women’s hearts,
the heat of the day;
the absolute silence
of the stars.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
from the collection The Speed of Sight
how you bring yourself to the table © colin goedecke
The Other DMZ
A Deeper Meeting Zone.
De-calcified.
De-toxified.
De-pressurized.
Between any two parties,
any two bodies, of countries,
cultures, or beings.
Where so much more
is seeable. Is desirable.
Is possible.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
beholding the beauty of the body © colin goedecke
In Praise of Bodies
That can fly
through winter skies.
That can take off and land
without wings. Hurtle
at remarkable speeds
down rural mountainsides.
Become works of art
in white space.
Bodies that can dance
miraculously on water;
race and match fluidly
over scapes of
crystallized water.
Can glide with all grace,
tracing agile ways
through forests, and
fields of moving targets.
Bodies that can shine
with burning spirit,
purpose, passion;
beyond color, culture,
nation.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
heaven-to-earth © colin goedecke
Beauty Continues
While countries, armies
and ideologies battle, bees
make honey. Butterflies
float, and drink the nectar
from gently open flowers.
While spouses, neighbors,
bosses and workers quarrel,
the sun still sets, and rises.
Brings color, splendor.
To snow-hatted mountains,
old growth forests,
bird-filled meadows.
The moon still shines.
Upon the faces of oceans
and lakes, fjords and
flowing rivers. On fish-filled
bays; clear streams and tarns,
tide pools of mussels,
anenomes, sea stars.
While attentions,
actions turn
to ungraced choices
and places of being,
unlovely behaving,
in the world's towns
and villages, houses
and metropolises,
beauty everywhere,
ever here, ever pure,
continues.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
everything is connected © colin goedecke
Norths & Souths
for the people of Korea
Throughout history.
Countries and kingdoms,
dynasties and dominions
from the Americas to Asia,
Europe to Brittania.
Have lost their civility;
descended sadly
into hostilities.
Throughout life,
then and now,
men and women
have, too, at times
left their inner poles,
their true norths
and souths. Lost
that precious harmony;
entered blindly
into inhumanities.
As Mr. Lincoln sagely said
A house divided
against itself
cannot stand.
Rightly so, from houses
of nations and cultures
to houses of communities
and self; yours and mine.
Or stand well, or worthily.
Until they hold themselves,
until we hold our selves,
close to the deeper heart-
fulness of mankind --
our humankindness -- and
the benevolent geography
of Nature.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
in a field of possibility © colin goedecke
In the Open
for Mr. Choi Moon-soon, Governor
of Gangwon Province
Where the sun is abundant.
Where everything is able to grow
in its own way, its own time.
On fertile, tranquil ground.
Mountain to woodland to coast.
Everything with its unique form,
color, voice. Able to share
an openly-flowing place;
a free-flowering, seeding
and pollinating place --
that nurtures all.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
we, the people © colin goedecke
Koreagraphing
for Mr. Lee Hee-Beom, President of the
PyeongChang Organizing Committee
of the Olympic Games
They’ve happened before.
Are happening now.
On history’s dance floor.
Countrywide sequences,
cadences, of specified and
unspecified movements;
sporting and
transporting movements.
Toward moments of parity,
consanguinity.
Manmade designings,
koreagraphings, all
to express our
higher reachings;
with the most artful,
mindful steps.
To finesse our bearings,
in ever changing,
ever evolving place.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
free-flow © colin goedecke
Unbordered
for Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President
of the UN General Assembly
All boundaries unbound.
All limitations unlimited.
All walls, confines,
hard lines removed.
All doors, minds
and dialogues swung open.
And the only frontier:
an inviting now-and-here
where whole nations
arrive at the virtue
and valor of embracing
more times of truce
than times of duress.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
entering the peaks © colin goedecke
Mountains Maybe As Metaphors
for the Olympic alpine skiers
If mountains and
moving down them
are metaphors, then
your angle of motion,
the way you flow;
work with direction,
are vital
to any swift and
sure descent.
And to all ascending.
The mastering
of your art,
your craft, your sport.
From the élan
you greet each
landscape with,
however sloping
or arcing,
to the grace
you glide with,
on or off any piste.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
where the physical meets the lyrical © colin goedecke
At the Speed of Possibility
for the Olympic long track speed skaters
Even in your airstreamed body
suits, you can feel the bones
of a thousand years back.
Of the Northern Europeans and
Netherlanders who used them
below their shoes. To move
with ease over frozen rivers,
lakes and Avercamp canals.
Or the stretch of your first
counterparts, in England’s
18th century Fens, who
competed at other great speed.
As you face and skate full-tilt
hundreds of metres
at the speed of ability
and fortuity.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
avant et après © colin goedecke
Feet First
for the Olympic lugers
Feet first.
Face up.
How you enter
this moment,
the white canvas,
the aliveness
of being,
moving at speed.
Hot inside,
cold out.
Flexing into time
and space,
shoulder to calf,
in thousandths
of seconds.
Supine and
supreme;
on the ride
of a lifetime.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
ready to fly © colin goedecke
Taking Off
for the Olympic ski jumpers
Between take off and landing.
The wending of a good journey.
One measured, best treasured, by
how distantly and eloquently
you traveled. From your flight
into space and all its unknowns,
to how deeply you leaned
into your rare human form
of flying.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
in the universe of all promise & potential © colin goedecke
Locomotively
for the Olympic cross-country skiers
Your body a living engine,
furnace breathing. Everything
inside full-steaming, as
you stream through deeply
lyrical snowscapes;
moving in long
forward strides;
tracking side-to-side.
Limbs, lungs and spokes
working so locomotively;
in such harmony.
The way Scandinavians
traveled with forte and fire
through their frozen worlds
five millennia ago.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
whirling dervishly © colin goedecke
Chess on Ice
for the Olympic curlers
Playing on a fair-squared
chessboard of ice;
with polished pieces
of bodies and stone;
for olympic stakes.
Betting the house,
you throw your whole
weight in;
sweep and encircle
in grandmasterly ways;
seek to surpass your
as-skilled challengers;
to button up,
hammer down not only
a dangling disc of gold,
but a singular place
in the pantheons
of history and memory.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
pure bliss © colin goedecke
Through the White Seas
for the Olympic freestyle skiers
The rises and falls,
swells and unknowns,
of the white seas of snow
you sail so freely through,
are fearful obstacles
for others. But
long-sought chances
for you to ride
great waves of possibility.
To partner
with the earth and
winter; perform
exceptional feats
together: you and
Nature, unafraid;
unbound.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
beauty in balance © colin goedecke
Bella Figura(s)
for the Olympic figure skaters
The beauty,
in and outside
the edges,
of the skaters’ giri
and salti,
sollevamenti
e spirali.
The choreography
of one, of two;
of medleys,
melodies of bodies,
blading and winging,
while the whole world
is quietly watching.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
across the great unknowns © colin goedecke
X Marks the Spots
for the Olympic Nordic combined skiers
In the snow.
Where you cross
the go-man’s land
that divides near im-
mortals of sport
from the mere.
Where your body
and spirit resound,
as they bound
into rarified alpine air.
Where you give
your all, hoping
to best by far the rest
of your Nordic tribe.
Have a victory inscribed
round these high, rising
moments of life, joy and
recorded times.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
you hold the key © colin goedecke
Bare Bones
for the Olympic skeleton riders
Bony and alone
in your skin.
Your skeleton
and exoskeleton
join, faces down.
On a fast and
frozen, G-forced
journey, into glory
and / or eternity.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
when you see everything as vivid © colin goedecke
Ice Hock(n)ey
for the Olympic ice hockey players
If he was painting it,
Hockney would make
it vibrant with movement
and color. In full contact
and concert with the
the spirited sticking
and pucking, the
raced shooting
and pointing; the
rushes of its
adrenaline’d
men, women
and watchers.
All its energy and
viscerality,
all its wild
heat and heart.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
white - out © colin goedecke
Now Boarding
for the Olympic snowboarders
Ocean, street and
snow-basted slope
intersect on a board
of fibered glass
holding fast
your moving feet.
Which carries you
on a surface
of brightness;
in a flow of promise.
Challenges
your balance.
Calls for
your absolute presence
of body and mind
toward ideal states
of form, pure peaks
of performance.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
look back to the Earth © colin goedecke
All the Icing
for the Olympic bobsledders
Learning to travel with gravity;
with streaking velocity; tenacity.
Navigate narrow passages,
wild twists and breakneck turns.
Outrun Time and Fate.
End, if you can,
with all the icing
on the cake.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
the reaching © colin goedecke
Fast Tracking
for the Olympic short track speed skaters
Ovaling.
Metre-ing.
Sometimes tagging.
Never impeding.
Only exceeding
the limits of
others’ speeds --
the records of
other fast-trackers
who came and
competed
as Olympically,
as indelibly before.
As you roar
over the earth
today; with only
the sound of the wind
in your ears and
the music of your metal
playing over
the bright, under-
passing ice.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
followers of the wind © colin goedecke
True Norse
for the Olympic biathletes
Through your veins
may run the ruling blood
of Ullr, ancient Norse god
of skiing and hunting.
Embodied in this twofold form
of cross-country skiing
and shooting; prone and
standing. Sang-froid
that may well be
coursing through your
present-moment prowess,
and finesse, from the accuracy
of your marksmanship
to the equanimity
of your sportsmanship.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
a breaking through © colin goedecke
White Flag
for the South & North Korean women’s
combined Olympic hockey team
A way to suspend animosity,
signal a possibility.
Seek peaceful relating
instead of brandishing
or warring of arms or wills.
Break the ice to bring
opposing elements together.
To shape something
better, something higher
minded, hearted, spirited.
That waves away
an otherwise darkening descent,
and waves in a hopeful,
unifying sign -- of light.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
Winter 2018
terra firma © colin goedecke
Always in Motion
for the Paralympians
And connection
with the greater.
The spirit.
That endows,
enflames
every fiber
of thought
and feeling.
That enlarges
every vision of
what’s possible.
That enables
every body
to rise above
the unbelievable;
reach, stretch to
the exceptional.
That endures
all tests,
all questions;
every trial by fire.
That enriches
our lives and places
here on Earth;
touches
the hearts and minds
of our fellow men
and women --
and sometimes,
transcendent times,
moves mightily,
magnificently
within, to empower
and ennoble us
in the eyes of
the wider world.
Colin Goedecke
for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics
& Paralympics
Winter 2018
flying through a world of winter peace © colin goedecke
thank you for entering and I hope enjoying,
finding meaning in, this experience of inner and outer peace-ability,
these openings to and honorings of our possibilities,
and the transcendent spirit of trucefulness.