Royal Pardon
Let me be untranslated matter in this
age of self-declared kings and salesmen—
this court our royal stage. How quiet the
white-hot nimble name, each upload
an upset to mortality’s unimpressed
bibliography. It feels like dead sound
the way you sculpt a lifetime through
good timing, through nobody’s hot
breath. Here lies Antoinette and
a facsimile report on the dearth of
formula water milk toilet paper bread
all gone during a juicy-sesh of self-care
slash thoughts and prayers. Headless,
we got carried away.
We had a lot to do.
While immigrants walked for miles and
immigrants bled hurricanes into boats
and immigrants without power turned
into reams of discount paper at Target’s
Big Blowout Labor Day Sale. Remember
worst nightmares as uncollected social
security? Me neither. I’m trying to save
up enough vacation time to sleep forever,
but a knife’s at my back most days, at the
edge of mother’s maiden name. And
five nights out of seven, my neighbor’s
outside breaking down Amazon boxes
while the cat pleads the fifth,
sleeps ‘til noon.
Surely, you know, sire, I jest. I’m just a
simpleton, a citizen, a sure-bet sidepiece.
All I want is your decent-blooded love.
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
