“What made you quit physics to become a poet?” is a question I have learned to deflect.

Recent events have made me reflect on the nature of political poetry that is inaccurately designated as “of its time.”

As a poet and activist, Denise Levertov viewed invitations to read her poems as opportunities to educate audiences.

Although it really is Thursday, I reply: “It’s Sunday. Every day is Sunday now.”

Like phoenixes rising from the ashes of old newspaper stories, political poems come round again with renewed relevance.