Bring Love from the Shadow

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem. Today’s poetry is part of a challenge from Kevin [@dogtrax] to write a Golden Shovel poem. Kevin’s engaging and well-interpreted poem [here] was responded to by Terry [@telliowkuwp] with another brilliant enrichment to the message we still send and act towards from Martin Luther King,Jr on this day and every day.

I don’t understand the “shovel,” but I get the “golden.”

The poem form is to include in bold or color a “spine” of some quotes— the golden words, placing the quotes as a vertical “spine” on the left, right, or middle of the page with the current author’s poem incorporating those words. This idea of this poem came from Kevin’s referral to us from Ethical ELA, a poetry and writing website.

So, in my picture above in yellow, read down on each end, are two quotes from Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail [1963]. Below, in the text poem, his words are in bold.

In the book, the Essentials of Martin Luther King, I searched for “shadow,” because I have shadow photographs in black and white and the shadow under which we now live—the threat of the loss of our democracy and the belief that we are all created equal is a stark example of right and wrong. The struggle continues, brought forward again from oppressors still living in the fear of losing what they can never obtain: happiness in love. They live in hate. And in that hate, they once again strive to deny equality, and again, we will stand strong against these ideals in order to bring about through nonviolence, the peace of brotherly love in a better world.

I found the following two quotes, which serve as my two spines of golden words:

“we were confronted with blasted hopes, and the dark shadow of a deep disappointment settled upon us”
“in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation”

From the book, the Essentials of Martin Luther King
Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963 [letter found here online]

I created the first column of bolded words with the disappointing circumstances of the first quote and began my writing, ending each line with the bold words of the second, more hopeful quote. In my shadow image, I changed the bolded words to yellow as an accent to ascend over the shadow of the image and today’s attack on civil rights with our continued and joined forces of love to prevail once again.

It has not the elegance of Kevin and Terry, but we all must put forth our part in the struggle, as best we can, to make the dream reality.

Bring Love From the Shadow

we are still on that brink where in some
were the old hatreds once not too
confronted now conmen bring forth the distant
with renewed vengeance against a better tomorrow
blasted hopes, on which we still stand — the radiant
and the voices— strong, emboldened stars
dark acceptance of the continued journey of love
shadow be gone! We join determined and
of a deep commitment to our sister-and brotherhood
disappointment after disappointment, we will shine
settled in knowing the battle continues over our
upon us again oppression: we must bring “love they neighbor” to our great nation.

Sheri Edwards
01722 017.365.22
Poetry/Photography
Martin Luther King, Jr’s words in bold,
read in left column down and right column down.
From Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)

1054 days of posts in a row