Reflections on M. L. King, Jr. Day 2011

Far too many Americans alive today
don’t relate to King’s life in any
meaningful way; that is to say,
it’s like Presidents’ Day for many --

they enjoy their day off from work
without giving thought to the man
and the heroic way he didn’t shirk
from spreading throughout this land

his message through peaceful protest
to stop hateful injustices for the Black.
King’s dream of America being a blessed
country revealed to us all “the right track.”

I’m old enough to have lived in the day
of three of America’s great men –
King plus John and Robert Kennedy.
I shared in their dreams back then.

Ever since I have cried over the shame
of what more they might have done,
of all the minds they might’ve set aflame
had they not died from hatred and a gun.