Katharine Smith
PeaceSmith House
by William Larson
12-20-1979
The hand that holds the hammer
in PeaceSmiths House
beats swords into plowshares
and spears into
pruning hooks.
Sparks from a forger’s anvil
fly about the House
and
xxxxxxxcluster
xxxxxxxflatten
xxxxxxxflutter
like the wings of a dove
about to take flight
from Brooklyn west to
the east end points of
Orient and Montauk.
Overhead white on blue
spells out a call
to arms
linked and locked
as loving legions
march to the beat
of hand and hammer
pounding an anvil
to strike a blow
for peace for all
in the name of Katharine of Long Island.
Smithies of every age rejoice
as well beyond the points
at the outer reach of a seeing eye
Atlantic’s gray womb
each day spawns
a rising heart
to light and warm
the way from
PeaceSmith House to
PeaceSmith World.
PeaceSmiths 
1.
richard quigley | April 15, 2009 at 10:30 am
Katharine was my great-grandmother (her daughter Laura was my gramma, and Laura’s son Peter is my Dad). I have lots of memories of going to the house in Amityville in the sixties & seventies and meeting James Farmer, Edlridge Cleaver, Pete Seeger, and others there. I remember having an Easter egg hunt there in 1969 and being petrified of going up to the third floor to look for my “basket”, but my Aunt Gretchen (you may know her) helped me out. My favorite memory of “Nana”, however, is seeing her at her 100th birthday gathering out in California, with a balloon tied to her while she woofed down a Big-Mac.
Please add me to your e-mail list. I feel a need to learn more about PeaseSmith House, and maybe share some other memories with those who may be interested.
Thanks.
Richard Quigley
Altamonte Springs, Florida
2.
kwilder | April 15, 2009 at 11:40 am
Many thanks for the wonderful comments. Will add you to the e-mail list.
Would love for you to share thoughts, and also visit sometime.