"I lived in the first century of world wars" is the opening line of "Poem" by Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980) an American poet and political activist. Her best-known poems are about social justice, equality and feminism. Her choice of words establishes her anti-war theme and her efforts to oppose war through her poetry: "Slowly I would get to pen and paper, Make my poems for others unseen and unborn. In the day I would be reminded of those men and women, Brave, setting up signals across vast distances, Considering a nameless way of living, of almost unimagined values." She felt her poetry, which would outlive her, would be a message to those "unseen and unborn" who could work to promote peace and justice. "We would try by any means To reach the limits of ourselves, to reach beyond ourselves, To let go the means, to wake." Here Rukeyser was passing on the baton, as it were, to the generations "beyond ourselves" in the hope that they would be more purposeful peacemakers.
