'Malcolm X and MLK'

'Malcolm X and MLK' timothy r gates, 2/21/2012

Malcolm and Martin
didn't walk hand in hand,
easily.

Fist in the air,
Mecca alone loosened.

Hands clasped,
Egypt's land passing through.

Pharaoh's legislators
did not want to let my people go;
together, arm in arm,
MLK walked through the Red Sea -
whites, blacks, reds, yellows, browns
Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists and Agnostics -
bombed D.C. just by being entwined,
singing,
“We shall overcome someday!”

Malcolm and Martin,
i like to think chat today,
beyond the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Fear's abuse, healed
dream's hope, realized:
beyond the Jordan,
i like to think
are what streets of gold
give way to -
Wailing walls, Mountain tops, Black stone, Eastern gates
find the gift of peace: silence,
“We've overcome this day!”

Malcolm X and MLK,
help me walk easier,
only dreamed of when i was a teen.