a poem about the great civil rights attorney and Justice Thurgood Marshall |
"Freedom in the Distance" A man like no other came to answer freedom’s call, Thurgood Marshall rode miles on America's rails. Justice was served ice cold in southern courts, thirsting for a savior to balance rigged scales. Riding into towns under cover of night, a brilliant black lawyer took on a sacred fight. Stalked by FBI and KKK, he never felt truly safe. A warrior of the law, words spilled forth armed with might. His defendant was a wrongly caged blackbird. Guilty for a law broken, maybe one not even known. Mostly for the sin of skin color and class. Poor, doomed, trapped in a dirty jail, far from home Always a hurried trial, knowing the NAACP is at bay. If they wait, a crowd armed with a noose, comes to play judge and jury their wicked way. Picnic lunchers watch their “guilty”die, hung to sway. Marshall knows a prisoner’s life is a butcher block. Like an OB doc, the call comes, he’s on the clock. Riding the colored car, studying books for any legal trick of the Bar. When he arrives, a homemade black cavalry surrounds each side. Happy faces feed and protect him, the accused neighbors swarm in. To be held in high esteem is nice, but a mistake means a man’s life. Always doing his very best, an almost perfect record rests. Hugged worn, weary with spiritual peace, train rocks home, free of strife. By Kathie Stehr May 26, 2021 24 lines |