Proper Fat

Proper Fat

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Thin with disgust
Fat with wordless joy
And patience

Thin like the opening of the gate
You pray you’ll make it through
Fat like the other side

Fat with pubescence
With moonstone or pearl
Thin protection

Fat as the ripe earth, before it was turned
The black soil, a dense fruit, unwavering

The fat trench of the womb
You share with your sisters

Fat like forgiveness and
God’s Grace that delivers you
From the enemy of yourself

Proper fat

Fat like a second, third and fourth chance
As the number of tries it takes
For you to finally get right

Dear, don’t mistake generous for infinite
Every abundance that can be chewed,
Can be expelled

Fat like the girl you always knew you were
The fat redemption

Hope, the innocence they couldn’t kill, swells
With its daughter

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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