Martin Luther King
by Myra Cohn Livingston
Got me a special place
For Martin Luther King.
His picture on the wall
Makes me sing.
I look at it for a long time
And think of some
Real good ways
We will overcome.
This poem made me think about my great-grandmother, Annie Peiffer. She lived in a retirement home for many years. In fact, she had two different husbands while living there (not at the same time)! On the wall in her small bedroom, she hung two portraits of her favorite people– John F. Kennedy and Jesus. Who do you admire that you would you hang a picture of if you had room for just one or two people?
Debbie Diller 
What an interesting question! I am not really one for putting up pictures of people, but the first answers that come to mind are: my family, Joan of Arc, Einstein, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Jim Henson, Gandhi, and Mae West. All for very different reasons, of course 🙂 ! Thank you for sharing this poem.
Oh gosh. I cannot even begin to answer that ? I’m with Tabatha in not hanging pix of people, but that’s not why. I just wouldn’t be able to choose. Probably Madeleine L’Engle and maybe Edgar Allan Poe. There are so many admirable public people, but I’d be more likely to put a quote on the wall by someone like Martin Luther King, Jr., or JFK or Jesus or anyone. Because for 99% of people, well, they’ve got the bad with the good, so I can’t look at the pic without seeing the negative, too. I’d rather celebrate their words or thoughts or maybe something cool that is the result of what they did rather than a picture of them.
OK, sorry. I know I took that question a lot further than it needed to go:>) Thanks for sharing this poem (love Myra), though, and making me think about this!
And glad to hear that your great-grandmother wasn’t married to both men at once;>)
What an interesting pair to have on the wall! Somehow that makes me chuckle. *grin*
I like your poem. I love the simplicity of language but the fact that it isn’t any less poignant or lovely for being so clear and succinct.
Dear Debbie,
I am compiling a peace anthology and would love to include this poem by Myra C.L. I wrote Random House but they said it is in an anthology (THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF POETRY FOR CHILDREN) and therefore I had to research whether it is in the public domain or with another rights-holder. Since you have it here on your site, I thought you might know. This is a fund-raising project for
an NPO and I want to do it right. Thank you very much. Judy Lucas
I forgot to check the “notify me box” the first time!