Tonight (for Martin)

Tonight!
Tonight is yours, Dr. King.
That dream you shared two score and five years ago?
– It's closer than you could know.

Tonight
Our nation rose and lived its creed:
All are created equal.

Tonight
Descendants of slaves and of slave owners
sat together, and from a mountain of despair
hewed a stone of hope.

Tonight
We judged character, not skin;
beheld a leader, voted him in.

Tonight
The jangling discords of our nation
fall – perhaps not silent,
but chastened in the face of change.

Tonight
From coast to coast let freedom ring.
With you, sage saint of civil rights, we sing:
Thank God almighty. Praises be. Amen.

And now, with hope-filled hearts, we greet Today.