On April 25, 1998, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
chartered a bus from Portland to Hanford to plant Sunflowers indigenous to
this environment as an act of peace and healing.  The following is a poem
written for this occasion:

Sunflowers at Hanford

wisdom in planting these seeds
greatness of smallness encoded
seed corn of new generation's
sunflowered birth of the mystery
renewing each death into life
hearts in the planting of flesh
caressing its emissaries of wonder
cells newly split for  unraveling
in a landscape of poisonous pitfalls
healed to the fate of our being
transgressions becoming redressed
messages tilled into soil
hope in the covering of prayers
gentleness of spiritual seeking
closing these wounds of our war
recast these wastes of destruction
transform this nightmare of horror
mixed in the fabric of being
reclaimed by our ancestor's ghosts
freed from the shackles of fear
praying this message be found
from which we can rescue ourselves

lloyd marbet 4/24/98