In a few spare lines, poet Jane Hirshfield captures the heavy silence of our time. Her message is clear: we cannot pretend like the climate crisis isn't happening. We can only pretend we didn't care. 

Hirshfield wrote the poem in 2017, in the early days of the Trump administration, as part of the Writers Resistance Movement. But its relevance has only deepened. As the climate continues to decline, her words strike like a quiet verdict against a world distracted. 

"Let them not say: we did not hear it. 

We heard." 

One of the most haunting aspects of "Let Them Not Say" is what it implies that in the future someone will look back on these moments, and they will ask what we did. 

In a world full a data, graphs, and climate models, poetry reminds us of the soul of the Earth and our shared humanity. Hirshfield doesn't plead us to recycle or donate to march. She simply names the silence and lets it echo. 

Maybe that's what we need. 

Not louder sirens but deeper stillness. 

Not more facts but more truth. 

Poetry may not stop the seas from rising but it can wake up from becoming too distracted from our real issues. 

Jane Hirshfield's "Let Them Not Say" is more than a poem- it's a record, a warning, and a plea. Let it be a turning point.