"Seasons of Need" is 24 dramatic monologues about power relationships. Eight of the monologues examine political power, eight are on economic power, and eight are on social power. Half the monologues are spoken by people who have more power than the people they are talking about; half have less. Of the half who have more, half enjoy having power over others while half try to relieve others.

Of the half who have less power than those they speak about, half accept their victimization while half turn to confront their oppressors. Half of the monologues are in modern developed countries;
the other half are in countries that have not yet industrialized. The Commentary following the poem compares and contrasts the monologues.

For the theory of power relationships, go to the essay, "Differential Social Power."

"Seasons of Need" is the top layer of a longer poem called "The Slow News of Need." "Seasons of Need" has one line for each day of the year; the layer below it has a line for each hour."

(PDF)