MLK Day 2008

The dreamer etched

"Peace"

Into the granite steps

Of a monument

In the pantheon to warriors

We call a National Mall

His words accented

By the ink of his blood

Split in Memphis

For the dignity of

Garbagemen

On those steps

I kneel with my daughter

Using pencil and paper

We trace that piece

Of the dream,

Carry it north

To a new generation

Facing the lies

Of the assassins

In times as dangerous

As they have always been

Lost, confused, intimidated

The hype drives us

To oppose ourselves

To obscure the dream

Or risk spilling Our blood

On the back pages

Of the daily newsprint

Gone in tomorrows recycling

The way it has always been

Yet a dreamer etched

"Tolerance"

Into the granite steps

Of a monument

In a pantheon to warriors

It will not be erased.