"Songs from Out of 
the Southern Shadows"
by Tanith McKlane

 
 

 
 
In April 1965,when I was a seedling in my mother's womb, she drove from our home to take part in the Civil Rights march from Selma to Montgomery. Around that time, a woman named Violla Leuzza was murdered for having the temerity to give a ride to a Negro. My mother later said, "It could have been any of us." My mother worshipped Martin Luther King. This poem was written for her.

 
28th August 1963.(Sestina)


A day in the death of a man
who transformed the american dream.
Whose spirit empowered the truth
so that all his brothers were free.
 In this most fragile land,
where the burger and bullet are king.

Yet still, we honour this king
who was deified as a man.
He sleeps in the womb of this land
while his own immortal dream,
is that all his memories are free 
from those who abhorred the truth.

There is no corrupting the truth,
as seen through the eyes of the king,
His message to all was, free
the oppressed, and love the man
who fights to deny your dream
in this beautiful, rolling land.

So, across the expanse of this land
it must not be denied-the truth.
Let it stand at the heart of our dream.
This is the word of the king,
handed down to man
who hearts are full and free.

There is none that cannot be free
in this, the most powerful land.
Unless we give in to the man
who closes his mind to the truth.
Listen, now to the king,
and take to yourself, his dream.

For, yes, there can be a dream
that all, who desire should be free.
We rose and followed the king
as he marched across the land
in search of the valiant truth
and his final gift to man.

In hushed reverence, we listened, across the length
and breadth of the land. Free at last, to hear the truth,
because one man had a dream-martin luther king.
 
 

©Tanith McKlane


 
 
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