If Martin Luther King today
Were here to bless his monument,
He might be first to note delay
Because of what we can’t prevent:
A hurricane, as obstinate
As human nature under threat.
Of course a storm is more than this.
We cannot know for sure its path.
Like expectations gone amiss,
The truth is in the aftermath:
Each generation drifts so far
To carry us to where we are.
My parents’ looked the other way.
My own supported civil rights
Though most no nearer to the fray
Than marching past the camera lights.
The Freedom Riders, stronger willed,
Were those inclined to end up killed.
My daughter’s takes another step.
They interracially date and wed,
Which they think hip and we thought hep,
And my forebears could only dread.
My dream is that a child of hers
Will see such difference further blurs
It’s nonsense we should circumvent.
Our DNAs are just the same
(Or 99.9%)
A heritage we all must claim.
Thus, loathing other skin's as fair
As hating different shades of hair.
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