I
honey people murder mercy U.S.A.
the milkland turn to monsters teach
to kill to violate pull down destroy
the weakly freedom growing fruit
from being born
America
tomorrow yesterday rip rape
exacerbate despoil disfigure
crazy running threat the
deadly thrall
appall belief dispel
the wildlife burn the breast
the onward tongue
the outward hand
deform the normal rainy
riot sunshine shelter wreck
of darkness derogate
delimit blank
explode deprive
assassinate and batten up
like bullets fatten up
the raving greed
reactivate a springtime
terrorizing
death by men by more
than you or I can
STOP
II
They sleep who know a regulated place
or pulse or tide or changing sky
according to some universal
stage direction obvious
like shorewashed shells
we share an afternoon of mourning
in between no next predictable
except for wild reversal hearse rehearsal
bleach the blacklong lunging
ritual of fright insanity and more
deplorable abortion
more and
more
“In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr." is a tribute poem by June Jordan. In the first stanza of this poem Jordan creates a violent atmosphere of terror and destruction.Through lines like, "the milkland turn to monsters teach to kill to violate pull down destroy", the author shows us images of destruction and chaos. All this violent scenes lead us to the word "America", which makes the readers believe that America has encouraged violence instead of stopping it. In the second stanza readers are met with an even longer description of terrifying events. This list of atrocities is interrupted the moment the author writes "STOP" to stop the feeling of depression and the unjust memories, marking the end of the first section of the poem.
In beginning of the second section of this poem Jordan shifts into a calmer state. In the first stanza she creates a feeling of peace through the line, "They sleep who know a regulated place or pulse or tide or changing sky". This feeling is quickly reversed when the author uses a simile to suggest that the privileges of this sleep are "according to some universal stage direction obvious like shorewashed shells". In the second stanza of the poem, the author states that " We share an afternoon of mourning in between no next predictable". This leads us to the end of the poem which brings us back to the violence in the beginning.
honey people murder mercy U.S.A.
the milkland turn to monsters teach
to kill to violate pull down destroy
the weakly freedom growing fruit
from being born
America
tomorrow yesterday rip rape
exacerbate despoil disfigure
crazy running threat the
deadly thrall
appall belief dispel
the wildlife burn the breast
the onward tongue
the outward hand
deform the normal rainy
riot sunshine shelter wreck
of darkness derogate
delimit blank
explode deprive
assassinate and batten up
like bullets fatten up
the raving greed
reactivate a springtime
terrorizing
death by men by more
than you or I can
STOP
II
They sleep who know a regulated place
or pulse or tide or changing sky
according to some universal
stage direction obvious
like shorewashed shells
we share an afternoon of mourning
in between no next predictable
except for wild reversal hearse rehearsal
bleach the blacklong lunging
ritual of fright insanity and more
deplorable abortion
more and
more
- Analysis of In Memoriam: Martin Luther King Jr by June Jordan:
“In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr." is a tribute poem by June Jordan. In the first stanza of this poem Jordan creates a violent atmosphere of terror and destruction.Through lines like, "the milkland turn to monsters teach to kill to violate pull down destroy", the author shows us images of destruction and chaos. All this violent scenes lead us to the word "America", which makes the readers believe that America has encouraged violence instead of stopping it. In the second stanza readers are met with an even longer description of terrifying events. This list of atrocities is interrupted the moment the author writes "STOP" to stop the feeling of depression and the unjust memories, marking the end of the first section of the poem.
In beginning of the second section of this poem Jordan shifts into a calmer state. In the first stanza she creates a feeling of peace through the line, "They sleep who know a regulated place or pulse or tide or changing sky". This feeling is quickly reversed when the author uses a simile to suggest that the privileges of this sleep are "according to some universal stage direction obvious like shorewashed shells". In the second stanza of the poem, the author states that " We share an afternoon of mourning in between no next predictable". This leads us to the end of the poem which brings us back to the violence in the beginning.