The bells
They chopped the air with unfamiliar waves of sound
The physical banging of metal on metal
so unlike the digital trill of
the carillon that last was played from the Sather tower
They rang across the flats
and pulsed toward the orange ribbons of sulfured atmosphere
The vibration in my chest was a second heartbeat
I dared not believe.

I set down the bag of groceries on the nearest bench
and stood in the park, listening
I hung in the space between joy and sorrow
Hoping
we had all waited for a long time
And now the indelicate campanile
Sounded up the hills,
down the streets of Berkley
then echoed out across the water
I caught a movement out the corner of my eye
A group of people had formed
Standing at the crest of the hill, at the entrance to the park
as if at a focal point
They laughed and raised their arms to hug each other in shared surprise
One silver-haired man gave me a thumb's up and handed me his phone
A large headline displayed the words: Peace Talks Announced!

I hadn't known I'd held my breath until it rushed out
I felt my body rise as more air rushed in
I returned the man his phone and sat on the bench next to the groceries,
my plan for dinner the last thing on my mind
We had done it, well, they had done it —
They had reached a cease fire that we the people could never orchestrate
They - the savage powers that took over the earth's institutions
to wage war against each other
had begun to talk
they had remembered their humanity —
that they had mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, even children--
a memory held still in some cell in their power-hungry bodies
after years of demolition
it was not the end — no
it was a beginning
And Like the rusty bells in the Sather Tower
Long unused, metallic and strange
Human voices rang again
with a promise of reason
and an intonation of joy

— Ellen A. Wilkin