The Subterraneans by Connor Wolfe

A Protest Poem

From Wayfarer Magazine, Issue 42»

—Cerro Pedernal, NM. Night of the 2024 Election


We walk where roots twist,
where rivers hum ancient songs,
where light bends, refusing
the clean symmetry of the surface.

Up there, they press lives into molds,
worship at the altar of sameness—
words sterilized, dreams shelved.

But down here, the air is raw,
electric with unscripted truths.
Hearts beat to the rhythm of refusal,
whispers echo like thunder.
Call us lost, call us strange—
we’ve touched the earth’s marrow
and will not crawl back.

We rise from the cracks,
the places they paved over.
Their shiny cities hum compliance,
trading freedom for comfort,
nights lit by screens
selling back their emptiness. 

Down here, we are roots,
snaking beneath their towers,
breaking through stone.
Our voices rise—a swelling tide,
not silenced by laws, borders,
walls of glass and steel.

You don’t know how far down you’ve gone
until their world burns,
a kingdom of fear, paper-thin.
Let it burn.

We are the underground fire,
the poets, the dreamers,
the queers, the marginalized,
the ones who refuse
to surrender the night. 

Other Recent Poems by Connor Wolfe

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Connor Wolfe (they/them) is the Founder of Wayfarer Magazine. Their innovative approach to independent publishing earned them two terms on the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publishers Association, a TEDx talk at Yale University, and the opportunity to study at Harvard University through grant programs.

In 2018, after delivering a TEDx Talk about their experiences with successive trauma, Wolfe was invited to engage in broader mental health discussions at state and national levels. They hold a degree in Abnormal Psychology, specializing in the intersection of mental illness and creativity. Driven by a passion for art, Wolfe also pursued Photojournalism at Harvard, studying under Samantha Appleton, former Official White House Photographer for President Obama and the First Family.

In 2024, Wolfe volunteered in the Collections Department at the Museum of Anthropology at Ghost Ranch, assisting in the preparation of sacred objects for repatriation under the updated Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Currently, Wolfe is passing through the San Juan Mountains with their three-legged black cat, Momo.

Follow: thewildwolfe.substack.com

@the_wild_wolfe on IG and Bluesky.