A

TO LIVE THE DREAM

1.
maybe some of us could not see
beyond the cataracts in our eyes,
some of us could not hear...
but there was a man, a man of God
who sang in the 'voice of love'
for all of humankind

a man who sang
in a prophecy of peace and brotherhood
like a Gandhi unto the people
'I have a dream,' he sang...

2.
nation yearning for truth
8888you listened
hearts full of hope
8888you listened
heads bowed in shame
8888you listened

B

from a throat deep with pain
transmuting a river of rage
'I have a dream,' he sang...
he sang for Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks, on a bus
in Montgomery, Alabama, who shook
the pharaohhead of supremacy
clear down to its blushing roots
when she refused to relinquish
her seat
88888:front seats reserved
88888888for white patrons
'I have a dream,' he sang
...that all men are created equal...
white yellow red brown black
all cosmic brothers under the sun

3.
Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley
Carol Robertson, Addie Mae Collins,
today we bring four Easter lilies of love
to lay upon your innocent graves

 

C

today we lift up our hearts
purified by sorrow
because we can do no less
but to love one another...

black brown red yellow white
—'the beloved community'—
working praying crying
laughing playing dying
all children of God
striving, existing together

4
today we say
Martin Luther King
you who walk in sidereal
paths of light
sing to us once again
your hymn of faith and hope
for mankind

because today we stand
closer than we have ever been
today we stand at the threshold
of the American dream

D

and we want to hear
the bells of freedom ringing
in every ghetto, barrio, slum

—want to see
the hand of justice
open the door of opportunity
for everyone

... to celebrate
with the Anishinabe—elder guardians
of this land—
the promise of America
America the bountiful
88888equally democratic
88888equally attainable
8888888888to all peoples
888888888888
888888—Angela de Hoyos ©
8888888San Antonio,Texas
888888819 Sept 1986