Poetry has always had a connection to politics. Much of the Hebrew prophets are recorded in poetry. In an interview with poet Michael Astrue, politically conservative, who goes by the pen name “A.M. Juster” he cites “For the Student Strikers” by Richard Wilbur, 60s poet of the left.
For the Student Strikers
by Richard Wilbur
Go talk with those who are rumored to be unlike you,
And whom, it is said, you are so unlike.
Stand on the stoops of their houses and tell them why
You are out on strike.
It is not yet time for the rock, the bullet, the blunt
Slogan that fuddles the mind toward force.
Let the new sound in our streets be the patient sound
Of your discourse.
Doors will be shut in your faces, I do not doubt.
Yet here or there, it may be, there will start,
Much as the lights blink on in a block at evening,
Changes of heart.
They are your houses; the people are not unlike you;
Talk with them, then, and let it be done
Even for the grey wife of your nightmare sheriff
And the guardsman’s son.
We across the political spectrum need to push ourselves and the nation to a return to civility and decency. Democracy requires it. Dictatorship is almost inevitable without it. Read the whole interview here.