Haiku Series

the king’s haiku

Martin Luther King
Dancing on his mountaintop
Love raining on earth

rosa’s haiku

Rosa Parks outside
the leaves decide to sit too
her back will not bend

haiku for malcolm

X marks the spot where
the ground opens for a man
a black shining prince

sit-in

can I eat here too?
my money is green like yours
why is your heart cold?

black reality: the last haiku

black power is black
hurricanes changing the world
this is not a dream

Notes:

This poem is part of the folio “E. Ethelbert Miller: Friendship Is What Keeps Us Whole.” Read the rest of the folio in the November 2025 issue of Poetry.

Source: Poetry (November 2025)