On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Write a poem on any of the themes mentioned below.
- Celebrate African American heritage.
- A grand dream.
- Liberty
- Slavery
- The assassination of MLK or assassinations in general.
You can post your poem here if you like. You will need a password. Write to theliterarynest@gmail.com if you need the password.
The Literary Nest 
Tracks of His Tears
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
I had never heard We Shall Overcome
before that time,
before Washington D.C.
before the Dream speech.
I was too busy trying to be Motown,
all of it. I can remember sitting in my father’s office,
with Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, Mary Wells,
Shake me, wake me, when it’s over
I sang every song, trying to consistently
match pitch tone, breath.
You can’t hurry love, no you’ll just have to wait.
Until then it was Dancing in the street,
And please Mr. Postman, look at see,
That speech on the steps was not
Just my imagination, It was real,
Lincoln looked on just up the steps.
Then, Mahalia sang then she spoke, Martin –
he changed direction,
told about the dream.
Lives were changed, our high school
commons packed with mourners that Friday.
Our beloved social studies sage, hands
clasped, jaw set, tears, rolling
Sparingly down his sable skin.
We could all trace the tracks of his tears.
~ Linda Trott Dickman
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