Pieces of Peace for our King on 4-4

I had no idea that this Pieces of Poetry #4 would fall on the 4th day of the 4th month, the same date that we lost our peaceful leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on December 11, 1964 was part of his Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, “The Quest for Peace and Justice.” He said, “The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.”

Pieces of Peace for our King

We have learned to fly the air like birds

and swim the sea like fish

but we have not learned

the simple art

of living together as brothers.

We judge one another

while looking into eyes mirroring ourselves

We label to better define

that which needs no definition

We are divided

not only by those who seek division

but by our own selfish needs

to box beauty, brains, and beliefs.

All that we have accomplished

never matches achievements

in heart and spirit.

If our melanin still threatens

and our strengths weaken

we have attained nothing.

I pray for the day

when humanity’s moral and spiritual heart

beats louder than the drumming

of egos and property.