A POETIC LITANY OF POEMS CELEBRATING MLK DAY
The Man…The Spirit
His name was Dr. Martin Luther King;
He was a peace-loving human being.
HIM
Preaching peace and love—
A mountain top of a man:-
Martin Luther King.
THE HUMAN DOVE
He came bearing a Dream for humanity
Teaching nonviolence, peace, and love
He was a drum major for human equality
Sent down to us by the Creator from above.
THE TEACHING KING
King taught
Nonviolent ways
Towards the justice we sought—
That injustice had numbered days:
Give praise!
KING’S DREAM
For too long, The Dream has only been surreal;
One that has been obstructed but not deterred;
In due time, it will become absolutely real!
For too long, The Dream has only been surreal;
With hope, faith, and time, come what God wills;
What God has promised can never be deferred.
For too long, The Dream has been only surreal;
One that has been obstructed but not deterred.
THE INSTINCTIVE DRUM MAJOR
A drum major of peace,
A drum major for love—
Marching for our release;
With guidance from above,
He marched nonviolently:-
Demanding that we be free.
He had a worldly dream
Fused with equality
For all like you and me;
He loved all human beings
Regardless of their race:-
He marched the justice pace.
Serving humanity,
He sought mass unity
And died for you and me:-
Serving us, he served God
In whom he put his trust;
In his footprints, let us trod!
HALE TO THE DREAM WEAVING KING
A mountain of a man was he,
Conqueror of Sisyphus’s failures;
Leading all eyes focused on the top
With echoing bells of freedom
Ringing out over the hills and valleys
Jingling echoed peace, love, and due justice.
Though the king he was—yet—he
Lived and died a humble servant;
Serving the living God of healing mercy
In labors of love towards fellow beings:-
And with mission purposed accomplished,
He ascended the eternal heavenly mountain
To that waiting house not made by hands.
However, he left us here with the eternal hope
Of our eyes’ coming liberation prize which
He assured was coming—although not in his lifetime
Nor before the tortuous times yet before us—for God
Had never yet failed to deliver what He has promised.
Yes, in the spirit of Jesus, he assured us
That the Dream will become a living vision
And the living vision will become a total reality;
Indeed, he assured us that God is a God of deliverance
And has promised us our rightful place in Earth’s Promised
Land and that despite any Pandora Box-like pandemonium
To come, God remains in charge and will eventually send
The Sun and Moon of His promised Bright Tomorrows:-
Thus, in these present victimizing dark times of
Catastrophic and calamitous uncertainties—as we
Commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day (this year),
Let our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits be fired up
By the fueling words he poured out to us over nearly
Half a century ago (1963) and still remain as igniting
Today as they were so many, many moons ago:
“God…gives the interior resources to face the storms
and problems of life…Let this affirmation be our ringing cry.
It will give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future.
It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward
Stride towards the city of freedom.
“When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds
And our nights become darker than a thousand midnights,
Let us remember that there is a great benign power in
The universe whose name is God, and he is able to make
A way out of now, and transform dark yesterdays into
Bright tomorrows…”
(Indeed…)
As we commemorate The Day of our modern-day prophet,
Martin Luther King Jr., may his spirit be the wind in the sail
Of our precious tinder life raft—in today’s rough and turbulent
Seal of life—that we may in Peace, Love, and Truth, reach our
Redemptive shores and ascend beyond Sisyphus-like efforts
To that mountain top where we all shall come to live in Peace,
Love, and due Equality that should rein in a world of the
Children of the One Blood of our One God—in the blessed Trinty.
KING’S DAY…
Martin Luther King
Dream deferred but not deterred:-
Reality lives…
It’s Martin Luther King Day—
Dream deferred but not deterred:-
Liberty is on the way;
His speech, not just words heard.