social commentary

There's a rich history of poetry serving as social commentary, intended to inspire calls to action.

You-16
So many days I wept over you You thought I leapt over you But in reality I didn’t know what to do My heart has been kept by you
By Atomic Historianabout a year ago in Poets
Regression
My eyes are bleary, my head — heavy. I tried not once, but thrice to compose myself, to fight the tide, to compose the words for the
By Paul Stewartabout a year ago in Poets
The Gospel of Water
I am the drop you forgot on your lips, The river you mocked in plastic slips, The ocean that wept when you turned to war,
By Muhammad Abdullahabout a year ago in Poets
Turning. Stay.. Runner-Up in Light Breaks Water Challenge.
A fissure of light breaks across the room— Crystals rise like a congregation summoned without a deity. They hover and shift,
By River and Celia in Underlandabout a year ago in Poets
Mars Opposes Pluto in Cancer (2025). Runner-Up in I Didn’t Say That Out Loud Challenge. Top Story - June 2025.
I pour myself a shot of spiced Ukrainian vodka, ice clinks like the gears of centrifuges spinning deep below Natanz-- beneath the salt flats, under the world.
By ANTICHRIST SUPERSTARabout a year ago in Poets
Tornado Psalms for Gaza
The tornadoes outside write Torah (תוֹרָה) in the sky-- black spirals of phosphorus, a liturgy of wind. I stumble into the windowless
By ANTICHRIST SUPERSTARabout a year ago in Poets
Closeted
Trapped within a box inside my head, Held fast with a lock and key in a cell. Few know the secret I am afraid to tell; For releasing those words is my dread.
By Callum Summersabout a year ago in Poets
The Quiet Ones
Deep within, the psyche swims, and fights against the tides. A secret garden in the mind, where enchantment blooms and hides.
By Mama Magdaleneabout a year ago in Poets
An Agnostic’s Prayer. Content Warning.
Lord I am drowning The water is sloshing Over my head and through my brain I try to swim I try to break the surface But the waves keep pressing me down,
By Sam Spinelliabout a year ago in Poets
I Protest
I wish him dead every day, and I don’t even need to say, who he is or what he does, I want him dead just because. He’s drives me mad with greed and hate.
By Tom Bissonette, M.S.W. Ret.about a year ago in Poets
Y, Z, A
They don't like rock and roll They don't understand it The new generations Constantly plugged in Tuned in and tuned out
By Gene Lassabout a year ago in Poets
Solus Iterum
A vanishing act like no other - Here's how it starts. First you wobble - a bump in the road, a misstep on the path, then you tumble.
By S. A. Crawfordabout a year ago in Poets