Abundant Hope

Abundant Hope

By Maya Angelou
January 19, 2014

Reverend Martin Luther King

The great soul,
Flew from the Creator,
Bearing manna of hope,
For his country,
Starving severely from an absence of compassion.

Martin Luther King

The Great Spirit,
Came from the Creator,
Proffering a sparkling fountain of fair play,
To his country,
Parched and deformed by hate.

The whole man came forth,
With a brain of gentle wisdom,
To persuade quiet,
Upon the loud misery of the mob.

A whole man stood out,
With a mellifluous voice,
To bind the joints of cruelty.

A whole man came,
In the midst of a murderous nightmare,
Surrounded by demons of war.

He dared to dream peace and serenity,
With a heart of faith,
He hoped,
To resurrect his nation.

I open my mouth to the Lord,
And I won’t turn back.

Martin Luther King

Faced the racial,
Mountain of segregation,
And made it move.

The giant mound of human ignorance,
Centuries old,
And rigid in its determination,
Did move, however slightly, however infinitesimally,
It did move.

I will go, I shall go,
I’ll see what the end will be.

Martin Luther King

Brought winds of healing,
To his country,
Reeling unsteady,
With the illness,
Of racial prejudice,
Screams of vulgarity,
Could not silence him.

Fire bombs and dogs,
Could not take his voice away.

On my knees,
I told God how you treated me,
On my knees.

He knew himself,
A child of God,
On a mission from God, and,
Standing in the hand of God.

He spoke to the hideous hearts,
And to the bitter monstrosities,
And asked them to transform,
Their ways and thereby,
Liberate his country.

Representing the grace of heaven,
He spoke to the evils of Hell,
Representing gentleness,
He sang to brutes.

He brought the great songs of faith,
Persuading men and women,
To think beyond,
Their baser nature.

Lord, don’t move your mountain,
Just give me strength to climb it.

He hummed the old gospels,
Encouraging the folk to act,
Beyond their puny selves.

You don’t have to move,
That stumbling block,
Lord, just lead me around it.

Leader to those who would be led,
And hero to millions.

Martin Luther King

Was father to,
Yolanda,
Martin, III,
Dexter, and,
Bernice.

He was lover,
Friend, and,
Husband To,
Coretta Scott King.

He spoke respectfully,
Of the Torah.

He spoke respectfully
Of the Koran.

In India, walked in the footprints of,
Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi.

Christianity made him patient,
With all religions.

And his tremendous heart,
Made him believe,
That all people,
Were his people.

All creeds and cultures,
Were comfortable in,
His giant embrace,
And all just causes.

Were his to support and extol,
Through sermons and allocutions,
With praise songs and orations,

He preached fair play and serenity,
From hand cuffs and prison garb,
From leg irons and prison bars.

He taught triumph over loss,
And love over despair,
Hallelujah over the dirges and,
Joy over moaning.

Fear not,
We’ve come too far to turn back,
We are not afraid, and
We shall overcome,
We shall overcome.

Deep in my heart,
I do believe,
We shall overcome,
Someday.



Maya Angelou, is an American author and poet. She has published
seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books
of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television
shows spanning more than fifty years.