‘Dost that hear my horse’s feet, as he canters away?
Property! Property! Property! that’s what they seem to say!’
Do you hear my Rolls Royce purr, as it glides away?
—I lick the cream off property! that’s what it seems to say!
“Class is the great hidden identifier in American life. Since I tend to focus my poetry on that which is ‘hidden in plain view,’ class has probably been foregrounded in my work and my sensitivity to it has been increased as a result of being a poet.
“
Ron Silliman