social commentary
There's a rich history of poetry serving as social commentary, intended to inspire calls to action.
The Last Light in Willow Creek
The Last Light in Willow Creek Willow Creek, Ohio — On a gray Thursday morning, the parking lot of the Maple Ironworks plant sat mostly empty for the first time in nearly eight decades. Only a few rusting pickup trucks remained, their owners lingering inside the building to collect belongings or say a final goodbye. A hush hung over the scene — not the noise of machines grinding to a halt, but the silence that comes when something deeper, something communal, ends.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Poets
The Sound of Rain on Tin
Where the soul listens, and sorrow softens. It began with the roof. A soft tapping, barely there, like the footfalls of ghosts. I sat alone on the back porch of a weathered cabin, high in the hills, a mug of tea between my palms and a thousand miles of silence behind me.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Poets
The Road Between Us
I remember the day you left, though I try not to. It was autumn, and the leaves were the color of old fire. The air smelled like apples, woodsmoke, and something else I couldn’t name — maybe grief. Maybe goodbye. You didn’t say much. You never did. Just packed your worn green duffel bag, the one with the broken zipper, and looked out the window like the world outside had something better to offer.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Poets
The House Beyond the River
The river curled like a silver thread at dusk. I used to stand by it, bare feet in the mud, listening to its secrets. It never spoke loudly, only whispered — about rain in far-off hills, about fish darting through the reeds, about things that lived and died and left no trace.
By Shohel Ranaabout a year ago in Poets
