Directions: Read the poem carefully and answer the following questions:
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language of the earth;
let’s stop for a second
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness
Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
What does the number ‘twelve’ symbolize in the poem?