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We Deserve Better

A Prose-Cutting Poem From “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Briana AeschlimanPublished 6 years ago 1 min read
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Photo thanks to Michael Browning on Unsplash || Poem Written October 2016

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.

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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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