For Martin Luther King, Jr

A man whose legacy is peace gunned down

The black man Dr. Martin Luther King 

He was the prophet of our age

He spoke of the urgency of now

And the catastrophy of "too late"*

A single bullet through his jaw

They killed him and they didn't care

Damn them, I want to say

But Dr. King's spirit won't let me

"Speak to them of love and peace"

The spirit says

"Remind them that the force of life is love 

Remind them that "our moral...lag must be redeemed"*

And without soul

We have no hereafter*

No words can say it better than he did

King knew that the end was near 

He said on April 3 in 1968

That he had "seen the promised land"*

Though he may not get there with us*

He was the prophet of our age and we must heed his words

That we must coexist

"Or face violent coannihilation".*

Alina Dolitsky

*quoted and paraphrased Dr. Martin Luther King's words from "Where Do We Go from Here? Chaos or Community?, 1967 and from his speech on April 3, 1968