Occasional Poem

REL and MLK

Two men lived a century apart.
One was white; one was black.
Very different, they had uncommon things in common.

Robert E. Lee was a southern aristocrat
Who fought on the side of the south
In the uncivil Civil War.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an advocate
Of civil rights who pushed his cause
To the death--his own.

They lived a century apart
In worlds that vastly changed,
And made things more the same.

Their names had similarities.
The letter "L" appeared in both:
Lee's last name and King's middle one.

Both lived life with a passion,
Fighting for a cause, as leaders
Who refused to succumb.

Separated in ideals at the time,
They are now both honored
On the same day--January 17.

Mary S. Palmer
1/6/12