2017 Poetry & Storytelling Competition Volume 2 | Page 16

The Beginning

Finalist: Katie Adams

Cedar Cliff High School

He asks himself:

“Why is there so much hate in the world?”

“Why can’t we all be great?”

He knows everyone is beautiful

But he knows people are not safe

Tired of discrimination,

Oppression is getting old

Stokely tells the generation:

“Black Power is bold!”

He listens very carefully

To all the leader’s voices

Martin Luther King Jr. makes his plan

He makes careful and scrupulous choices.

Soon after, he stands in front of the nation

Talking about his dream

He has a particular fixation

Of which he will scream

No violence to reach equality

With Gandhi’s thoughts by his side

He has the nation’s attention

And takes them for a ride.