Tuesday, April 3, 2018

The Assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


On hearing if Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination Thomas Merton wrote this poem:

April 4 1968     For Martin Luther King

On a rainy night
On a rainy night in April
When everybody ---
Said the minister

On a balcony
Of a hotel in Tennessee
"We come at once
Upstairs".

On a night
On a rainy night in April
When the shot was fired
Said the minister

"I've come at once upstairs
and found him lying
On the balcony  <--- after="" nbsp="" p="" the="" tornado="">he came at once upstairs"

On a --- ---
he was our hope
and we found a tornado
said the minister.

And a well dreamed white ---
said the minister
Propped a telescopic storm

and he never
(the well-deemed minister of death)
ran
ran away

And on the balcony
Said the minister
found
even lonely dying.
<--- after="" nbsp="" p="" the="" tornado="">[I am totally unsure that I have transcribed Merton's words correctly. Please check the comments for much better transcriptions of Merton's writing.]

 
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6 comments:

  1. Joaquin TiradoApril 4, 2018 at 6:13 AM

    Thank you so much for this, Beth. Looks like the transcription's pretty darn good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. beth cioffolettiApril 4, 2018 at 8:19 AM

    thanks, Joaquin. It is interesting to see Merton's thought process in a moment like this.

    ReplyDelete
  3. HwithaApril 4, 2018 at 9:01 AM

    Thank you so much for this and for all your wonderful words on this blog. May I add my contribution to your transcription in the hope that others will also do so and enable us to find something like the core of what Merton was saying?

    On a rainy night
    on a rainy night in April
    when everybody ran
    said the minister

    on a balcony
    of a hotel in Tennessee
    "we came at once
    upstairs"

    On a rainy night
    on a rainy night in April
    when the shot was fired
    said the minister

    "we came at once upstairs
    and found him lying
    on the balcony ---- after the tornado
    we came at once upstairs"

    on a rainy night
    He was our hope
    and we found a tornado
    said the minister

    and a well dressed white man*
    said the minister
    dropped a telescopic ----

    and he ran
    (the well dressed minister of death)
    he ran
    he ran away

    and on the balcony
    said the minister
    we found every body dying


    * James Earl Ray was described as a well dressed white male by a witness who saw him running away.

    ReplyDelete
  4. bob knabApril 5, 2018 at 1:16 AM

    thank you - thank you

    love collects all verities


    blessings ----------------------

    ReplyDelete