Black and White

Sitting in the den, comfortable,
my wife, my children, my mother-in-law
all African-American, watching his speech
sharing his words, his dream, remembering his work

Our littlest, seven, asking why the picture was in black and white
explaining, hard as it was for her to believe, that there was only
black and white television at that time
incredible, incredulous, watching the preacher on the mall

How much has changed, how much transpired, since those days
before the assassinations, before the internet, before Watergate
before cell phones, before voting rights, before Vietnam
so long ago, so far from today

We gathered today, we will gather tomorrow,
black and white, young and old
to watch the flickering screen, now in full color
to see another chink, another link of the chain loosened

We will watch as another son, another man
stands to take the oath, to swear allegiance to our law
to take another step, on the road that Martin walked
to change our nation, in living color

January 19, 2009
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
watching his “I have a dream” speech with my family;
the message, “It’s not just a dream but a reality”
on the sign in front of church;
the story of Moses and Joshua,
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Joshua 1:1-9
and on the juxtaposition of the
80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the inauguration of Barack Obama
as President of the United States of America
along with
Micah 4:1-4
Matthew 5:43-48
the sermon, “Love Your Who???”,
by Reverend Huntley Halvorson,
Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH,
and the hypothetical put to Eric Holder, nominee for Attorney General,
by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on the use of waterboarding,
January 15, 2009, during his Senate Confirmation Hearings,
see http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/15/cornyn-holder-waterboard/