Raymond A. Foss Poems

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A moment, this moment
claiming Martin, his memory, his cause
as our own, the nation changing,
moving toward his hoped for future
Electing a president, someone to lead
who would not have been given respect
not so long ago, who would have been
as Martin, as so many, outcasts in our land
Claiming his mantle, so many, seeing
maybe for the first time, the equality,
the shared community which he prayed for
Rising in unison, one nation, honoring both men
on Monday, on Tuesday, this coming week
a healing, wounds bound up, a salve, a balm
starting a process he longed for, worked for
A different land than he knew, beginning again
a dream, an oath, a nation moving forward
all of us, to some extent, claiming Martin as our own

January 17, 2009
on the juxtaposition of the
80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the inauguration of Barack Obama
as President of the United States of America

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