As the story tells it
after days of preparation
by he and his attorney
a few other trusted staff
a speech to empower
the economic recovery
of the black people was crafted
into the wee hours of the morning
after which he had a dream
and made mention to a friend

and as the story tells it
at the age of but 34
standing at the foot of Lincoln's statue
he had just delivered to hundreds of thousands
the words he'd toiled over for days
the poet, the preacher, the patriarch
of his family - was just bout thru
and they say she told him
"tell em bout the dream Martin"
and he stopped for a moment
flipped the paper over to a blank side
looked out over the crowd
and delivered a vision from his remembrance
that reverberated thru the souls
of an entire generation
echoed in their genetic design
and was born again stronger each time
in the children of those he spoke of
and now some 40 years later
just as he said - just as he dreamed
we bout to witness at 12:00 Tuesday January 20, 2009
the promised land finally being reached
work far from done - but my God how far we've come!

And as the story has it
that closing was an afterthought
and she just leaned in with an idea
that she shared with her friend
"tell em bout the dream Martin"
and I know I am sure glad she did
that he did - a leader among men
not many years removed from just being a kid
and just look at what his dreams did