Thursday, July 30, 2020

The Contents of John Lewis' Backpack


one apple
one orange
one tube of toothpaste, for brushing his teeth in the holding cell
one toothbrush, same
one copy of "The American Political Tradition" by Richard Hosfstadter, pub. 1948
one copy of "The Seven Storey Mountain" by Thomas Merton, same

they broke his skull
lost his backpack
and he kept on marching


John Robert Lewis
February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020
On the occasion of his memorial service, July 30, 2020


Wikipedia: James Lawson (activist) (speaker at John Lewis' funeral)
Wikipedia: Czesław Miłosz (poet quoted by James Lawson)


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