Ancestors

Ancestors

They are bicycling into the sun.
He has a dhoti on under his coat
and a briefcase with LYRIC
marked in big letters.

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They are bicycling into the sun.
He has a dhoti on under his coat
and a briefcase with LYRIC
marked in big letters.

She has a sari in lime green
and socks and a backpack
that is filled with scraps
of torn silk

She drops a fan as she
races past the balustrade
into sky blue water.
The fan opens

and slips into the shape
an oyster makes when
it whorls a pearl.
Something of great price

is torn from her and the man
on his bicycle who is wheeling
at the edge of the crater
cannot see or hear.

Soon as the poet had it
they will be pecked to death
by a partridge. Soon they will drop
into dark water

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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