My MLK was from my day
He made speeches like MLK
Today I looked up on my phone
And there it was, he was gone
It hasn't hit me like others did
Greif is there but under a lid
New Justice and Freedom
Was where we were lead
Him leading the Joshua way
With God in front from day to day
Few get the titles disciple and apostle
But they come earned and death affirms
He finally got the reward he earned
His death will bring about things sorely learned
Discrimination and prejudice were rarely heard
But God has a way of using many verbs
The speechless will now speak
Preachers will now preach
Mourners will now march
Judges have begun to judge
Politician will know what to say
Today is another MLK Day
Dedicated to Jessy Jackson
(for MLK Jr.)
Last century it was White Supremacy
And this has morphed into Black Supremacy
A poisoned baton passed along
From one scared clan to another
People all
Not knowing how to just get along
Without the tools to stir and blend
The melting pot
The pressures of cultural isolation
And clashing cultures
All in competition build
A zero sum game
Pie sliced into ever smaller shares
Of a market devoid of freedom
Rubbing shoulders now
With those you never knew
Let alone even saw before
Intolerance grows like wildfire
Set by lightning
Set by arson
It matters not to the tree
That burns
Yet still I have a dream
In every mind
In every heart
Glimpsing a promise land
In the splendid isolation
Of our sleep.
(1/21/26)
Brother Martin Luther King Jr. did not die in vain
Heck no, the Kennedy brothers did not die in vain
And countless brave protesters did not die in vain.
The fight goes on, the struggle goes on.
It not easy to think and to write about the pain
Which our ancestors have endured over the years
They fought and died for this land of opportunities.
The fight goes on, the struggle goes on.
Heck no, Brother Malcolm X did not die in vain
Many brave young fighters did not die in vain
It is a shame that many agitators are so insane.
The fight goes on, the struggle goes on.
Jesus Christ was crucified and died for our sins
Presently, we cannot have a resurgence of gangs
Racist gangsters roaming in our lives like crazy ants.
The fight goes on, the struggle goes on.
Copyright© August 2017 Logerie Hebert, all rights reserved
Hebert Logerie is the author of several books of poems.
WITH EYES STILL ON THE MARCHING PRIZE
(APROPOS OF AN MLK DAY REFLECTION)
With eyes on the prize,
Let us climb freedom’s mountain:
Topping liberty:-
Be a Drum Major,
Leading liberty’s parade
Up the mountaintop:
Guiding marchers onward to
Freedom, justice, and equality:-
Don’t let anything
Try to deter the journey:
You’re not Sisyphus;
Just keep on climbing:-
God navigating,
Let’s march to reality;
Our dream coming true:-
And nobody can turn us back:
Our faith, drum majoring us:-
Given the Dream’s route,
Let’s move up the mountainside:
Topping injustice:-
Railroading onward,
Has been tracked by ancestors:
God navigating:-
Today’s oppression,
We shall also overcome:
Flushing bigotry:-
Let justice’s waters unclog
Today’s red-pooped injustice:-
Let’s flush it all down!
Including red-stained echoes
From loose bowel-mouths:-
A SONNET FOR THE DREAMING KING
(APROPOS OF MLK DAY, CIRCA TODAY)
On a cold balcony, in night’s darkness,
Stood a man known as the Dreaming King:
His weary body a stranger to rest and doubt,
He resolved to navigate, ‘til peace would rein.
Suddenly, a cracking sound pierced the air;
Though not an ear, the bullet found its fleshly feast:-
The alarmed world became filled with gross despair—
Death had summoned the God-sent prophesied priest:-
The king had been crucified, but the dream had not:
Faith is so much stronger than debilitating hate and bigotry;
And there is nothing that can discourage the faithful lot:-
Know that with amazing grace, we will become free
Long live King’s spirit! Though he has passed,
We shall overcome, and shall be free at last:-
MLK: THE EBONY HUED 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:-
I dream a world where the courage of our conviction
is governed by the confidence in our compassion.
I dream a world where the courage of our conviction
is governed by compassion out of fashion.
I dream a world where we fashion a song of freedom
from the chains of our confusion.
I dream a world where the confusion of conviction
breeds the opportunity of connection.
I dream a world where the arcing line of justice
bisects the stubborn line of continuous conviction.
I dream a world where the chains linking all conviction
melt the chains which link the fences of our illusion.
I dream of a dream within a dream where the awakening
air we breathe is not a yawn but the song we dreamed.
And this time…
we remember…
all the words.
I have a dream.
God laughs when fools behave like racists
All persecuted individuals are His children
God laughs when a few are obviously chosen
And receive preferential treatment under the basis
That the lighter complexion is superior and better.
God created one race. The same blood flows like a river
In all God’s children veins. This blood is red, not amber
God laughs when a few are obviously chosen
All persecuted individuals are His children
The lighter shade is neither superior nor better.
Fools love to divide, to disunite in order to conquer
God laughs when extremists comport themselves like fools
God does not like when his children are treated like tools
All persecuted individuals are His children
God laughs when a few are deliberately chosen.
Copyright © May 2025 Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of several books of poetry.
MLK: 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:-
Dreaming
By: Ricky Jones
Dreaming is something everyone do,
Develop a positive feeling inside and you will too.
Having a dream doesn’t make it come true,
But making a sacrifice and doing what you must do,
These are some of the things that make your dream come true.
Dreaming will fill your heart with inspiration
And fill your mind full of expectation.
I know a man who had a dream
His name was Dr. Martin Luther.
This dream from M.L.K.
Brought us out of a struggle
To where we are today.
In 1963, Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.
What he asked for should not have been a far reach.
Dr. King was rather unique
And boy did he like to speak
He spoke on equality and racism
And spread his message through activism
He was one of the most prominent activists during the Civil Rights Movement.
He was hoping for enlightenment
He led nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience
Based on his years of experience
Dr. King was against discrimination and Jim Crow laws
They didn’t align with his cause
For this, the FBI deemed him a radical
That just wasn’t practical
He won a Nobel Peace Prize for combatting racial inequality
A major step for civil rights in American polity
In 1968, Martin Luther King met his demise
His assassination led some to theorize
Would he be surprised to how little we have come
Or would he be thankful for improving equality some
"power without love is
reckless
and abusive,
and love without power is
sentimental
and anemic.
Power at its best is
love implementing the demands
of justice,
and justice at its best is
power
correcting everything that stands
against love."
Win/Lose power
without win/win love is
lose/lose reckless
and abusive,
And win/win love
without win/win power is
sentimental
and anemic.
Power
at our best is
love cooperatively implementing
win/win healing justice,
And EarthJustice
at our healthiest
and best is
power
win/win correcting everything
that stands win/lose against
multiculturing beauty,
transformative love,
vulnerably peaceful
and healthy communion.
Keola-Sonnet-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Imagine perched above, you ride THE lofty throne
Peering through pellucid skies to seek our MORAL truth
You yearn to spread what people need; empathy ingrown
To stare into transmutative hearts, from elderly to youth…
Suddenly, your throne volplanes into a graceful ARC
Your view, now curved, a myriad OF sights
THE UNIVERSE so grand, folks pale to smooth and dark
You cry as crisis BENDS what’s good, tears AT every right…
THE journey must proceed; though lachrymose you feel
Another ELBOW OF your trek; celebrate below
For this great place watched JUSTICE rightfully appeal
A moral victory, a beginning, where together, folks will grow…
Written and submitted on February 1, 2022
Submitting for Keola Secret KA-CHING-cash cash cash Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: William Kekaula
On MLK Day, let’s reflect
On protests made in peace,
For choosing who we would elect
Should not require police.
Remember marching through the streets?
Our weapons were our chants.
We had no Facebook, had no tweets
And yet we took a stance.
When Martin Luther King was here,
We listened as a crowd
Within a civil atmosphere;
No violence allowed.
If King were somehow back today
To see what is at stake –
The future of the USA –
I think his heart would break.
leader of social justice
change society
gift for rhetoric and oratory
strived for freedom and compassion for all
a name displayed on buildings nationwide
remembered by his famous speech
a life and true potential shortened
about hope for a world
we might live in one day
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