"Make me an instrument of your peace" That's what she said when the smoke bore silence When all the fighting slowed When touching skin was still Not close enough to find the soldiers nearby 'Said, "Make me an instrument of your peace Your peace as kind as an air raid siren" She cursed the dawn, still and cold And said it's better to feel Another person than do no violence She said: "When your bullets are gone And you still can't connect With the one you love I'll be your bayonet" I showed her chessboards and cathedrals Translating oceans into bishops' footsteps That space between us glows And passion means to kill And bones are no more than myths of doctors But with her hands I planted saplings And with her axe, saw them grow then crumble Where every sparrow's nest Cast off its eggs like sandbags As it flew to heaven She said: "When your bullets are gone And you still can't connect With the one you love I'll be your bayonet And when your cover is blown Your hiding place is found I will be your revealer Deep underground" She's the rays from the sky Burning cancer to skin She's the jurist who smiles Convicting Anne Boleyn She's a feast without end Bursting all who partake And when I raise that white flag Then the war starts again