There were a variety of submissions, with different themes, different styles and lengths. Some I needed to reread and think about, and others stood out immediately. Here are some examples:
It’s time for victims to be the change we need to see. All men are born free and equal. Every man, woman, and child seek equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity with discrimination. – I saw a strong belief that the people who are being treated badly must realize they have to advocate for themselves in order for there to be change. I had to reread this poem to see the strength in this, because it was so simple.
I have a dream. Seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. We are up here standing together. This is our hope. Give them a piece of your mind. – Great ending sentence, I had a vivid image of people standing up and together and advocating for themselves.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow. I still have a dream. I’m going to ask him how much money he received from the NRA but it doesn’t matter because I already know. And divided by the number of gunshot victims in the U.S. in 2018 alone, that comes out to $5,800. Is that how much these people are worth to you Trump? This is our hope. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to him, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world. – This poem showed deep text analysis. No one else chose this text, and it fits well in the middle. It addresses a deep problem in the U.S., and offers the solution of concerted citizen action.
I have a dream. Where every man, women, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. The guns have changed, but our laws have not. We shall look in vain to change the law. If you do nothing people continually end up dead. We shall change the law. This is our hope, this is our faith. – I had a problem with this one, as I don’t feel the beginning lines fit well with the rest, however, the message of changing the laws or people will continue to die is so powerful. So I gave it hua/hua.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. So it’s time to start doing something. All our government and president can do is send thoughts and prayers. So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world. – The last last line took me a while to understand, but now I realize they are saying that even though the people face the problems, our political situation seems hopeless. Very moving.
If one of these is yours, please see me.