For MLK, 50 Years After the Outrage

"For MLK, 50 Years After the Outrage"

I am older now than you ever got to be.

So young, too young, so much more to do.

But I was a child then, you the elder.

Your legacy shaped my life.

So much so that I, too,

am the Reverend Doctor.

The doctor so I can educate;

The reverend so that I can

more fully embrace the duty of Love

I owe my brothers and sisters.

The path you laid out is not easy.

Hate is so much easier than Love;

But Love so much more worth the effort.

I have tried, Reverend Doctor,

to be the sister you deserve.

To teach, to lead, to keep up the fight,

until our children live in a world

in which they are judged for their

characters, not their skin color.

I pray I live to see the world you envisioned,

And pray that when we meet someday, both

on the other side, you will smile, and know

that your words fell on fertile ground.

But today, 50 years on, I mourn the life

that ignorance brutally ended.

Until we meet in glory, dear brother,

I endeavor to keep your legacy alive.

Rest in power, Brother Martin. With love.