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(REVISED AND UPDATED TO 2024)
(Part I)
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 purpose 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 had 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 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.
A SONNET TO THE MAN WHO WAS A KING OF PEACE AND LOVE
On a cold balcony in the shadow of evening,
Stood the man known as Martin Luther King.
His weary body—a stranger to rest—filled with anxiousness
And resolved to march on ‘til his dream’s reality would rein.
Suddenly a death-cracking sound pierced the still air
And a murderous craving bullet found its fleshly feast.
The alarmed world became filled with great despair—
Old Death had summoned and sent a racist deranged beast.
Our king had fallen but his faith-filled dream had not;
Undying faith has always been stronger than hate and bigotry:-
Let there be no doubt that nothing can discourage the faithful lot;
For in and with amazing grace, we will worldly-wise become free:
Let us not wallow in apathetic despair that our king has passed;
Long live the King! Long live the dream! His spirit is free at last!
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.
The King is dead
But long lives his dream
Dreaming to the reality
We must ensure is coming…
Reflecting Jesus
In a labor of love life—
Martin Luther King:-
(Part II)
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
(Apropos The Man And His Spirit)
King’s spirit still pushing us onward
As we move up to the mountaintop
Shattering that Sysiphus-like rock—
King’s spirit still pushing us onward.
With drum major guidance we ‘can’t be stopped;
His gracious inspiring motivation is here to stay.
King’s spirit still pushing us onward
As we move up to the mountaintop:-
LIVING ON!
Though they murdered King,
They couldn’t kill the Dreamer’s
dream—
The spirit lives on…
Like Jesus our King,
Martin’s spirit leads us too!—
Loudly echoing…
IN THANKSGIVING PRAISE…
His dream continues to live on
Guiding us where we must now go
With eyes on the mountain top prize
Drum majoring us along the way
As we move on toward our dream's
Reality…
Praise be to God for sending Dr. King
To you and me—
Though they may have assassinated the
Dreamer…
His awesome dream lives on to its reality
And so do we:-
KING DAY…
(A Retrospective Perspective Of Today )
David said to Solomon his son,
be strong and of good courage,
and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed:
for the Lord God…will be with thee;
he will not fail thee…until thou hast
finished all the work…
1 Chronicles 28:20
It was once thought
that they killed the king
but not his dream;
albeit while the dream is still alive
it remains a dream—
and the nation’s creed remains a lie,
as the table of brotherhood
waits to be built, prepared, and seated.
In today’s discontented winter
of democracy, all illusions
of freedom, justice, and equality
remain a frozen mirage;
and the seething nightmare
of American injustice
continues to scorch the hope
of an oasis of equality
as the flowing waters of righteousness
are dam up by walls of pontificated bigotry
and abject disharmony—
similes to interposition and nullification
as all flesh has yet to collectively see
dispelled oppression.
Today they shall again seek
to placate us with what they have defined
to be a “rhetorical masterpiece”
of sermonic genius; disguised
to sedate those who refuse to be
metaphoric Children of Sisyphus;
however, today we shall overcome
all delusions to the allegorical message.
And we shall rise up
as if on the wings of eagles,
soaring over the mountaintop
diving into every exalted valley—
making it plain that though
the workers die, the work goes on
as the cistern of our being overflows
with workers taking delayed dreams
and create living visions
that become liberating realities.
Be it known and believed
that now is the time and the time is now
no more just for us to overcome,
but for the nation
to truly become the land of the free;
the home of the brave; and
a refuge for the oppressed;
only then can we there be greatness here.
Yes, they stopped the dreamer;
deferred the dream; and distorted the vision;
but as twilight can’t halt the dawn,
nor a crescent moon be denied its destiny,
they cannot shut down the reality
of God’s coming salvation and liberation.
For in due time and season,
this nation shall become as Nicodemus became.
So fret not dearly beloveth;
be not deceived, dismayed, or depressed.
They know not nor understand the faith
in Him whom we put our trust;
they cannot understand that our eyes
have seen freedom’s coming light;
and that our ears have heard the roaring
thunder of its promised liberation.
Oh our bodies may be weary in struggle
but our spirit is undaunted;
we’ve come too far to turn back;
and now is the time and the time is now
to rise up in the skin we’re in—
claiming the victory of our laborious journey.
Today let us now raise our hands in praise,
singing the words of new spiritual, gospel songs
reminding us that no one can turn us around;
for we woke up this morning with unshackled minds:
alive and burning with the eternal flame of hope!
Today let our voices ring out with blessed assurance,
Precious Lord…precious Lord…Take my hands
And lead me on, Lord….Glory…Glory…Glory Alleluia!
