Who Talks Like That?

Who Talks Like That?

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The Narrows is strips of yellow and jade,
Verrazano Bridge silver, horizontal lines,

here; and here, someone alone, afraid, crying,
sad, sunken eyes, emaciated body; and, here,

the speed of a slap, the strain under the skin;
and this murky and absurdly massive figure

bent over double under an unknown burden;
and this bandaged wound, smudged contours,

body and mind breached;
and I thought this,

waking early, looking out, the too magnificent
to be described unclouded sky, night still

in the west, the eastern horizon crimson,
melting into blue, light’s solid pact being

forged without apotheosis, Governors Island
lashed by waves, where the two rivers meet.

Who talks like that? I talk like that. Blinding
point of light in which everything converges,

everything is revealed. Dense constellations
of abject suffering, hell-holes, hell-time,

all things associated with what is configured.
Light not only looked at, but the light we have

looked at with, in common with Byzantine
mosaics, iconic, chromatic, glowing, as if

caught by the sunlit sky, revised, added to, a separate
palette kept for each poem, in the present, a presence,

here, a man who watches the woman he loves
as she walks toward him, in Battery Park, in patches

of light, in the birch leaf green, the harbor
bright blue, in pockets of deep green shade.

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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