In honor of Martin Luther King Day, we asked Madison’s poet laureate, Fabu, to share some of her own memories of Dr. King, and some of her poetry.
From her book Poems, Dreams and Roses
I saw you in a color photograph
with a fancy gold frame
on my Granny’s living room wall.
You hung right beside Jesus
cause one was her King in heaven,
the other her King on earth.
She needed both, faith and action,
in sweltering Mississippi
to twist change into the rural South.
I read you in the books published by Ebony
my Mama bought for us to read
about Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Negro leader.
You were placed right beside the Holy Bible
cause when scripture was read and prayers said
she included you too.
She needed both prayer and knowledge,
living in a southern city
to demand the freedom that is her God given right.
Now that you are gone, our Reverend and our King
We still need your courage and your strength
living in this new millennium
where everything is considered right and nothing is wrong.
