"What Kind of Times are These"
https://soundcloud.com/brainpicker/adrienne-rich-what-kind-of-times-are-these
WHAT KIND OF TIMES ARE THESE
Adrienne Rich
Theres a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
who disappeared into those shadows.
Ive walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but dont be fooled
this isnt a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
I wont tell you where the place is, the dark mesh of the woods
meeting the unmarked strip of light
ghost-ridden crossroads, leafmold paradise:
I know already who wants to buy it, sell it, make it disappear.
And I wont tell you where it is, so why do I tell you
anything? Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, its necessary
to talk about trees.