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When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his 

 58 years ago, he changed the course of history with his aspiration.

The metaphors, political overtones and themes King employed were inspired by 

Langston Hughes' poem "I Dream A World:" 

In the poem, there's hope in the chaos, and it attends to the needs of all of us. There are so many parallels between "I Dream A World" and King's speech: talk of dreams, freedom, equality.

So as we enter 2021, we can all draw inspiration from both King and Hughes. 

resident poet Kwame Alexander and host Rachel Martin suggest we write our way out of the unprecedented events of the past year and into a space of possibility.

Write a poem that, like Hughes did, begins with the line: "I dream a world" and describe the change you hope for.

Your poem can rhyme like Hughes' poem, but it doesn't have to. It just has to dream us out of tribulation.

Share your poem through the form below, then Alexander will take lines from some of your pieces and create a community crowdsourced poem. Alexander and Martin will read it on air, and NPR will publish it online, where contributors will be credited.

By providing your Submission to us, you agree that you have read, understand and accept the following terms in relation to the content and information (your "Submission") you are providing to National Public Radio ("NPR," "us," or "our"):

You are submitting content pursuant to a call out by 

 related to a segment with Kwame Alexander wherein he creates unique poetry based on listener submissions. You understand that you are submitting content for the purpose of having Kwame use that content to create a new poem or poems ("Poem") with the material you submit. You must be over the age of 18 to submit material.

You will retain copyright in your Submission, but agree that NPR and/or Kwame Alexander may edit, modify, use, excerpt, publish, adapt or otherwise make derivative works from your Submission and use your Submission or derivative works in whole or in part in any media or format and/or use the Submission or Poem for journalistic and/or promotional purposes generally, and may allow others to do so. You understand that the Poem created by Kwame Alexander will be a new creative work and may be distributed through NPR's programs (or other media), and the Poem and programs can be separately subject to copyright protection. Your Submission does not plagiarize or otherwise infringe any third party copyright, moral rights, or any other intellectual property rights or similar rights. You have not copied any part of your Submission from another source. If your Submission is selected for inclusion in the Poem, you will be acknowledged in a list of contributors on NPR's website or otherwise receive appropriate credit, but failure to do so shall not be deemed a breach of your rights.

Your submission will be governed by our general 

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As we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, 

 asks for you to write a poem that starts with the words "I dream a world."

As we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, Morning Edition asks for you to write a poem that starts with the words "I dream a world."


Poetry challenge: Honor MLK by describing how you dream a world

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