Wednesday, April 4, 2018

DRUM MAJOR FOR A DREAM


I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Just that the well has run pretty dry.

Martin Luther King was martyred fifty years ago today. This poem was written in remembrance. And to point out that some dreams are too "expensive to be realized."

DRUM MAJOR FOR A DREAM
Ira G Zepp, Jr.

Your dream was clear,
We understood it perfectly.
Liberty and justice for all –
But that was too costly
For us, too expensive
Too dear, as they used to say;
Have-nots having
Disinherited, inheriting.
Is that what you meant by
Lowering mountains and
Exalting valleys?

But you beat your drum
Slowly, persistently, non-violently.

Your dream was clear,
We understood it perfectly.
Heaven on earth.
But heaven can wait.
It is often unwise and untimely for color of skin
To give way to content of character: for black, white
Brown, red yellow
To live together in Shalom.
Is that what you mean by
Making rough places plain
And crooked paths straight?

But you beat your drum
Lovingly, redemptively, faithfully.

Your dream was clear.
We understood it perfectly.
Love your enemies,
But that is impractical, not
Calculating enough.
Loving those who despise you
Who speak calumny against you
Enables us to be brothers and sister
In the Beloved Community.
Is that what you meant by
Seeing the Promised Land?

We understood all of this
So perfectly, saw it so clearly
That we beat the drummer
Senselessly, violently, fatally.

Poem was found in a little volume with the same title. Printed in India. NOT the good old US of A. 

1 comment:

Lisa :-] said...

Yes, we did. And we seem to be reviving that tradition of beating messengers. May the Creator guide us OUT of this darkness.