Poem for Martin Luther King Day

Poem for MLK Day © 2012 by Sherwood Ross

Rise up! Rise up, Americans!
Too long have you delayed!
While imperial-minded presidents
Their cruel wars have made.

The hard-earned coin for which you toil
Is spent on wars on foreign soil,
The liberties you enjoyed of late
Are clubbed to death in the police state.

Rise up! Rise up, Americans!
Adopt the non-violent creed
MLK showed us the way
Love is all we need.

(Sherwood Ross is a Miami, Fl.-based public relations consultant who
walked across Mississippi with The Rev. Dr.. Martin Luther King and
others in 1966 to complete James Meredith's "March Against Fear" after
Meredith was shot. Reach him at sherwoodross10@gmail.com)