Black,
the absence of color
or the absence of light?
Or is it the color
of a life-long
fight?

Red,
the color of roses
or the color of fire?
Or is it the color
of the dripping
desire?

White,
the color of me
or the color of you?
Or is it the only color
of dreams
rung true?

Blue,
the color of the skies
across our vast land?
Or the color of
bruises
underneath our hands?

Freedom,
the sound of bells
chiming their everlasting ring?
Or is it the words of dreams
spoken through the lips of
Martin Luther King?

1955,
our world lucid
and obscene.
Somehow we made it
to 2013

But night is still black,
and day is still white.
So we keep remembering
the power
of our civil rights.