Category Archives: sonnets

The year was 1976, and Ireland was set to explode: The Irish Republican Army had just killed ten more Protestant men; Northern Ireland then lost control of their government – to England. Contemptible butchery on religious grounds continued, the stories told Of neighbour against neighbour, guerrillas imprisoned for murder and unrest. In August, three childrenContinue reading “1976 – Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan”

His brilliant and difficult research into nuclear physics and power Brought the hydrogen bomb to the Soviets. Now none could glower That they alone held survival of all in their hands – in an hour. But Sakharov emphatically argued nuclear’s potential for peace: Not only would its cataclysmic ‘signature’ prevent its use, But its powerContinue reading “1975 – Andrei Sakharov – 2”

Andrei Sakharov was born poor in Soviet Russia. His father, a physics professor, taught him. In Stalin’s Time, bleak, he continued in theoretical physics, ushered From the university to war work making munitions. He finished his doctorate as World War II was ending, And Russia was clamouring to make nuclear weapons, themselves. He joined thatContinue reading “1975 – Andrei Sakharov”

MacBride saw his father executed for his path Into the Irish fight for independence from Britain. He then rose as a fighter and lawyer, fighting both For a united and a free Ireland. He defended IRA members successfully in Irish courts, And rose as a statesman in Ireland and beyond. His work resulted in Ireland’sContinue reading “1974 – Sean MacBride”

Eisaku Sato was Asia’s first winner of the Prize. Japan’s Prime Minister from 1960, he’d used his position To encourage peace treaties with other Asian nations And to open new global trade routes and trading ties. In this way, he felt, the greatest leaps would be made Toward normalization of relations, through modern trade. SatoContinue reading “1974 – Eisaku Sato”

These two men formed the diplomatic helm Of the Vietnam War, where Agent Orange and bombs Were the currency of diplomacy.  Overwhelmed With issues, Kissinger’s strategy put ‘thumbs on the button’ For a Christmas bombing, killing many civilians. Le Duc Tho rejected colonial rule Before and after the war. He led millions For a freeContinue reading “1973 – Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger”

He took the name, Willy Brandt, while fighting the Nazis, Undercover with the Socialist Workers’ Party. To sea He went at twenty by ship to Norway, neutral, Where he excelled in the language, politics and writing. Youthful, He worked for Labor and wrote profusely (Nazi crimes). Germany took his citizenship, upon which he was grantedContinue reading “1971 – Willy Brandt”

Borlaug was born on a Norwegian farm in Iowa. His family encouraged education and he went into the field of Plant pathology. This was at a time when there were Extensive food security problems for populations, unfed. In Mexico, India and Pakistan, especially for the poor His ground-breaking scientific research and applied methods Made allContinue reading “1970 – Norman Ernest Borlaug”

Under the foundation of the ILO in Geneva Is a document that says, “If you desire peace,  Seek justice.” Of course, this international labor mantra Has been repeated from wars to trade unions and congresses: Since Versailles, the tripartite strength of workers and employers, With States, has brought rights and protections across national borders, WorkContinue reading “1969 – The International Labor Organization (ILO)”

He said, “The war put its indelible and unmistakable stump On me [and] my contemporaries. But it wasn’t So much the spectacular horror of the battlefields Or the suffering in the hospitals that marked us, as It was the agonized perception of the lasting and wasteful Consequences of the war:  the disabled soldiers  . .Continue reading “1968 – Rene Cassin – 2”