I Have a Dream: Lorot's Version

I have always been inspired by Martin Luther King Jnr. Especially his “I Have a Dream Speech”. Whereas I apologize for dragging my ten-pence piece in a speech that has outlived him, my dear reader, please accept this amateurish attempt.


I, Lorot Son of the Hills, have a dream
I have a dream...I have a dream
I have a dream that one day
The long night of buried dreams
Would usher in a new dawn of revived dreams

I have a dream that one day
Intellectual fraud would end
And society would be made simpler
By Truth and love for humanity


I have a dream that one day
On the plains of Kacheliba, on the rocky terrains of
Kiwawa and Kasei and the treacherous gullies of Mtembur
On the lakeshores of Lake Victoria to the Tana Wetlands
To the dry patches of Marsabit and Wajir and El-wak
I have a dream that one day
Like the rain, all the people of Kenya
Would be drizzled by the cooling drops of National Cake

I have a dream that one day
When I go to Government offices
I would not be judged by the tatters of my cloth
But by the even fabric of my heart

I have a dream that one day
Leaders would be chosen
Not by the fatness of their bank accounts
Nor by the bellicose they spew forth
Nor by the imaginary enemies they fight
But by their Idea-o-meter
And the pulse of their dreams

I have a dream

I have a dream that one day
Gaza Strip, West Bank, Lebanon
Would be mentioned for right reasons
Like the buzz site of bees
Or some cultural heritage sites
Or some serious exporters of peace

I have a dream
That one day I won’t see smoke
Clogging my nostrils
That I can smell again of nectar

And of earth
I have a dream that these words
Would have a life of their own
Ringing true from the unwashed face
Of a sleepless woman in Alale
To the creased face of a teen

In New York
To the turbaned head of an Afghan boy
To the weary brows of an oil rig worker
To the uncertain eyes of a child in Africa
To the abandoned brides on aisles
To the sunken ships, to the mangled buses,
To the crashed planes, to failed rockets
To the unknown soul
Speaking of his misery
Giving him hope
Re-telling his life

I have a dream
I have a dream that this dream
Would be part of the bigger dream
Of each one of us
In this wonderful world


C) Lorot Salem 2011

Pestle and Mortar

Image courtesy of google:learnnc.org

I Dreamt a Dream! What can it mean?

Who could interpret what it portends?

In it, I saw a huge pestle—

 the size of Africa

Grenades, detonators and guns—

All weapons the world ever knew

Manuscripts, scrolls, speeches—

The objects that stoked hatred

Near it, I saw a pestle—

The size of Australia

Gandhi and Luther King

Stood by, Mother Theresa

Was busy weeping by

At that moment

On a Big Screen flashed

Hearts ripped by bullets

Towns and cities bombed

A limbless child lay, lifeless

Nations of the earth watched

Moved, in collective agony

Then, as if on cue,

Those people held the pestle

Lifted it, one, two, three

They sang harambee

Lifted it, up, up, up

When the pestle descended

Into the mortar, all its contents

Were pounded like yam

They pounded, pounded

Pounded till a paste was formed

More pounding and a thick liquid

Dripped;

Mankind partook of it

Man cried ever more

When I looked at the Big Screen

I saw Gandhi and Mother Theresa and King—

All crying in joy

Fleetingly, I saw all Leaders of the Earth

Dancing round and round

A thousand doves flew above

The Earth detoxified itself

Buried bullets and shells flew;

To an overhanging magnet

I saw Earth heave

I awoke—

Dream Interpreters what say thee?

C) Lorot Salem 2011


For a prompt Carry on Tuesday Plus #101 The task was to use the lines " I Dreamt a Dream! What can it mean?" from William Blake's poem, "The Angel".