Little Rock, 1957

Little Rock, 1957

What happens to
a dream deferred?
Langston Hughes asked,
while for the children at school, I
ready that photograph
of the Little Rock Nine --
the one with the mob,
mid-shout, trailing a
stoic Elizabeth Eckford
dressed in white, clutching
her books with one arm,
ram-rod straight
ahead stare, eyes
on the prize, no one
to watch her back --
and I wonder, also:
what happens
to a hatred inured?

– Steve Peterson

Notes
I wrote this for the comment section at Mary Lee Hahn's poem place last year for April Poetry Month. But as I look around at our current politics I wonder if all this practice with hate just makes us more accustomed to hatred.

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