Death in Captivity, a Surrender
An animal searches for its homeland.
Say to the animal: here is your home,
here is your livelihood, here in
this fenced perimeter.
Say to the animal: you are the last
of your kind, that is why you must live.
An animal migrates into a new body, senses the impulse to leave.
Say to the animal: heavy is
an apology inside the wind.
Say to the animal: mortality anchors
us to this planet.
An animal dies searching for its birthland.
Say to the animal: may your steps serve
as an itinerary of your past.
Say to the animal: may you come back
as a body of water.
May you come back as a saola.
All captured saolas have died in captivity
with the exception of two released back into the forest.
Say to the saola: forgive us
in our plea to love you, forgive that you
give us meaning.
Say to the saola: to die in captivity swells
your mystery, god-sworn to never
reveal the beauty inside.
A saola dies in captivity, each breath falling back in time.
Say to the saola: your livelihood is outside,
your bordered topography is a country
that may never return.
A saola is wounded in the act of capture.
A saola grows ill in captivity.
A saola dies and takes this future with it.
Say to the saola: here is a basket
in which to gather snowlight,
here is a blanket made of prayer.
Say to the saola: here is an echo
of the human you’ve left behind.
Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation
Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.
We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.
In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen.
Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering.
With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now.
While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account.
I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and publisher, The Nation
