12 Hours

12 Hours
by Andrew Nesbitt

12 hours we live in a confined space
we rule the air, rule the movies
and the rows and rows of seats
drone of the engine, I cannot sleep, but
we are finally hear, the winter air not winter
but south once more, now this, this is winter!

could it really be? but how?
we dreamed of being them, we have posters of them,
we met them, and we love them.
how is this happening? Is this even real?
Monopoly, so much Monopoly, so intense!
STORM!SLEETRAINSNOWSNOW
one hundred kilometers per hour

“If you win I will cut my hair,
if you win you will cut my hair”
“deal”
There was betting too
He threw pillows after Monopoly
“NO FUCKING, FUCK”
He almost threw the race
for beer?
“God Damn it!”
Finally he won both times No more fits

snow better than I had ever seen
everything better than I had ever seen
scenery, skiing, the people, the Monopoly?
we are falling in love
MORE FOOD! we love that too
we cannot stop smiling, we are too fortunate

race day, this day, they destroy us
that is why we want to be them
fast faster fastest never slow down on The Farm
we or they will never slow down
they are too good we are too young

“I am not racing”
“why?”
“Something hit me” Said the silver medalist
“Who hit you?” Said our coach

we loved those days and they were our favorite
we do not want to leave
back to the summer the heat and the north
but we know so soon south will come north
and they will return
we will see them and race them again

Martin Luther King

In the words of James Taylor, “Let us turn our thoughts today to Martin Luther King”. Gould Academy’s annual MLK day is drawing near, or depending on when you’re reading this, is already here or has already passed. Either way, let us turn our thoughts to it.

While conducting a few google searches for a poem to post about MLK, I was shocked to find hardly any quality writing on him. There were short sentenced biographies listing his birth and death as well as copies of his speeches, but the closest I could find to a poem was something along the lines of “Martin Luther King was so good I could sing. He had an awesome dream, blacks and whites were the theme.”
This hardly does justice to the man who wrote “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
So why is there so little on the world wide web honoring this most honorable of men? True, we have a whole day in his dedication, but in idolizing Martin Luther King, we’ve accidentally done something pretty dangerous, distanced ourselves from his message.
Martin Luther King was not a God. He was as human as each of us. That’s important to remember. He was mortal and he was extraordinary, and we can be too.
This MLK day, I challenge us all not to look up in awe at this man, but be empowered by his words to the point that we may realize the strength within our own own selves to become our own heroes. Let’s embrace his dream of all people joining together to work towards bettering this world that we share. I dream Martin Luther King’s dream too. A dream of a world where hate does not exist and all people live equal to one another with the rights and standards of living they deserve. If ever this world is to prevail we must all become, like Martin Luther King, active advocates for peace and love.

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Post your thoughts. If you have something longer, feel free to email me and I will make it a main post (as opposed to a comment). Let's try and get a lot of writing on this one!