Poem of the Week

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Maybe There Is More to Life than Living

January 18, 2018

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, which was celebrated on January 15^th.

In today’s poem, Martin Luther King, Jr., reflects on what in life might mean more than life itself.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Maybe there is more to life than living.

A person is a ripple in a stream,

Roiling the waters with a dream,

The revelation that makes life worth giving.

In love one finds a reason for believing,

Needing love to make life more than seem,

Love that makes the mundane moment gleam,

Undoing fate with faith, and death with grieving.

There is no love but at the risk of death,

Having valued something more than self,

Embracing what gives life to life, and grace,

Replacing fear of death or loss with joy.

Know then that the dreaded end of breath

Is not the end one ought to aim for, else

None would speak to fortune face to face,

Granted life no bullet can destroy.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/maybe6.html. For more poems for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/martinlutherkingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

January 15: Maybe It’s a Little Strange that I

January 16: Maybe More than Love Was Needed

January 17: Maybe Some Had Thought I Hoped Too Much

January 18: Maybe There Is More to Life than Living

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Maybe Some Had Thought I Hoped Too Much

January 17, 2018

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, which was celebrated on January 15^th.

In today’s poem, Martin Luther King, Jr., reflects on the election of Barak Obama to the Presidency of the United States.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Maybe some had thought I hoped too much

And dreamed a dream that never would come true,

Reasoning from what they saw and such

Trends as might confirm their points of view.

In dreams, however, one creates what is --

Not from what one sees but what one wills:

Like light, from the Lord's dream sprung, now All, as His

Undying Word the void unending fills.

Then look! Look! What miracles occur!

Here we have a black man judged upon --

Exactly as I dreamed -- his character,

Regardless of his skin! And he has won!

Know, then, that the dream for which I fought

In time became the ground for what I sought.

New realities require dreams

Given to us not as ends but means.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/maybe5.html. For more poems for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/martinlutherkingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

January 15: Maybe It’s a Little Strange that I

January 16: Maybe More than Love Was Needed

January 17: Maybe Some Had Thought I Hoped Too Much

Maybe More than Love Was Needed

January 16, 2018

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, which was celebrated on January 15^th.

In today’s poem, Martin Luther King, Jr., reflects on what he was unable to accomplish.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Maybe more than love was needed.

All my love was not enough.

Reason is but rarely heeded.

Talk means little at the trough.

Icons look good on the wall.

Nothing changes but the names.

Love is merely protocol.

Undiluted fear remains.

The life is fast, the changes slow.

Hope must be its own reward.

Eventually, the undertow

Returns, returns towards times untoward.

Kings build castles in the sand.

Infinity awaits the tide.

None can settle on the strand.

Grace must live with fratricide.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/maybem.html. For more poems for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/martinlutherkingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

January 15: Maybe It’s a Little Strange that I

January 16: Maybe More than Love Was Needed

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Maybe It's a Little Strange that I

January 15, 2018

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, which is celebrated today, January 15^th.

In today’s poem, Martin Luther King, Jr., wonders why his birthday is still celebrated and not Washington’s or Lincoln’s.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Maybe it's a little strange that I

Am now the only one whose day of birth

Remains a holiday. I don't know why

That honor should be mine alone. My worth

Is certainly no more than Washington's,

Nor do I more than Lincoln days deserve.

Let me then suggest a change: Once

Unmoored from my name, let the holiday serve

To honor not the person but the cause,

Healing racial wounds, pursuing justice,

Examining the morals of our mores,

Revisiting the pain of prejudice.

Kings require homage; this king would

Instead be an occasion for remembrance:

Not of me, but of all who fought for good,

Giving “Freedom Day” its proper sense.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/maybe9.html. For more poems for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/martinlutherkingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday

January 15: Maybe It’s a Little Strange that I