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I dedicate this recitation to the Palestinian and Jewish families 

That have lost children in the ongoing conflict in the Holy Lands

and continue to endure the ravages of unholy war.

I am prepared to tell a story that recalls the ancient tradition of praise song and calls us to remember the wisdom of the ancient voices for the present day. The harp is considered by many to be the oldest musical instrument in the world. It was used to accompany the myths and sacred stories in the 3rd millennium B.C. As a contemporary praise singer, I recite and sing verse from various oral traditions that give voice to women and address the themes of love and war.

The voices I have chosen to memorize, recite and sing resonate with the words of the Alcman, ancient Greek lyric poet’s Hymn To Artemis: For Peace we cry, Oh Artemis, Grandmother of Lions. Likewise, is the voice from Genesis of Hagar, the Egyptian, whose son, Ishmael was the half-brother of Isaac and the son of the patriarch, Abraham. Her words: Let me not see the death of the child! remain the cry of millions.

In 2026, I responding to remarks made by the Archbishop of Izmir after a concert in which I was a participant at Meryem Ana Evi – The House of Mary - in Ephesus, Turkey on July 4 in 2000. At the end of our historic concert, the archbishop rose to say that we had honored the House of Mary and that “those who sing have God in their heart.” He also said that “the United States had a role to play for peace in the region….” At that time, I dismissed this remark on the assumption that as a poet, I certainly had no role to play “for peace in the region.” However, I believe that in our time of religious wars it is time for religious poetry, and so I come now as an older woman with a very old story to tell, and here give answer at last to the Archbishop of Izmir on that day at The House of Mary on July 4 in the year 2000.