We Deserve Better
A Prose-Cutting Poem From “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr.
This realization is seen as unwise
and untimely with election season
upon us. But don't we deserve someone
at least a little poised and righteous?
Someone we can look in the eye and
trust they'll be behind us? Someone
of genuine good will fighting injustice?
But what brought upon the nightmare we're facing
is what we're pushing back against now—with fame and fortune
taking precedence over policies and vows.
I am sure that none of you would want to rest content
with the superficial kind of social
analysis that deals merely with effects
and does not grapple with underlying causes.
So we must not fear tension as a nation. We
must assess injustice and seek negotiation. We
must act to bring what's right, focus on self-purification.
We're not a lazy generation of sloppy, brainless
patrons. And we've been dragged down too long
in monologue when a dialogue can save us. Rise from the
bondage of a world of myth and half-truth. We deserve
better, America. That starts with you.
About the Creator
Briana Aeschliman
Do you remember the scene from Spongebob where he clears his brain of everything but fine dining and forgets his name, so all of his little brain Spongebobs run around like crazy? That moment of chaos describes my brain most of the day.
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