Culture / Poems / October 31, 2023

Talk

Noah Warren

Love of the world is so clearly come and go,
the way we talk sounds beautiful and sad.
You have to try these three words before you can
say the harder thing.
The air at evening crumbles into rose flakes.
The wind like a child’s breath.
This is cement. It’s almost hard now, but when it’s new, it’s soft.
If we step in it then it’ll be there forever.

To describe is to praise, I’ve always felt that.
Two crows fly up and disappear into the depths of the redwood.
Talking with Sarah in bed I touch her hair.
How often do we use the word “safe” each day? Thanks,
a walk sounds nice. When I write this
winter I trace lines of motion I conclude
I’ve lived. My mentor tells me I am
more than a series of inclinations,
twilight knotted with dislikes.

Support The Nation this Giving Tuesday


Today is #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that typically kicks off the year-end fundraising season for organizations that depend on donor support to make ends meet and enable them to do their work—including
The Nation

To help us mobilize our community in this critical moment, an anonymous donor is matching every gift The Nation receives today, dollar-for-dollar, up to $25,000. That means that until midnight tonight, every gift will be doubled, and its impact will go twice as far. 

Right now, the free press is facing an uphill battle like we’ve never faced before. The incoming administration considers independent journalists “enemies of the people.” Attacks on free speech and freedom of the press, legal and physical attacks on journalists, and the ever-increasing power and spread of misinformation campaigns all threaten not just our ability to do our work, but our readers’ ability to find news, reporting, and analysis they can trust. 

If we hit our goal today, that’s $50,000 in total revenue to shore up our newsroom, power our investigative reporting and deep political analysis, and ensure that we’re ready to serve as a beacon of truth, civil resistance, and progressive power in the weeks and months to come.

From our abolitionist roots to our ongoing dedication to upholding the principles of democracy and freedom, The Nation has been speaking truth to power for 160 years. In the days ahead, our work will matter more than it ever has. To stand up against political authoritarianism, white supremacy, a court system overrun by far-right appointees, and the myriad other threats looming on the horizon, we’ll need communities that are informed, connected, fearless, and empowered with the truth. 

This outcome in November is one none of us hoped to see. But for more than a century and a half, The Nation has been preparing to meet it. We’re ready for the fight ahead, and now, we need you to stand with us. Join us by making a donation to The Nation today, while every dollar goes twice as far.

Onward, in gratitude and solidarity,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Noah Warren

More from The Nation

Benin Bronzes at the British Museum.

The Long History of the "Elsewhere Museum" The Long History of the "Elsewhere Museum"

Can the ethnographic museum be reinvented?

Books & the Arts / Farah Abdessamad

Rain and Mountains

Rain and Mountains Rain and Mountains

Pages from a novelist’s notebook.

Books & the Arts / Orhan Pamuk

The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq

The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq The Discontents of Michel Houellebecq

What happened to the French novelist?

Books & the Arts / Cole Stangler

An African American family seated in a convertible, 1972.

The Perils of a Post-Racial Utopia The Perils of a Post-Racial Utopia

In Nicola Yoon’s One of Our Kind, a dystopian novel of a Black upper-class suburb’s secrets, she examines the dangers of choosing exceptionalism over equality.

Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse

Skeletons used in a museum in Amsterdam. They are posed in various positions for working; sawing wood, doing housework, carrying planks, office work, etc.

Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture

A recent history of the 20th-century movement to fix slouching questions the moral and political dimensions of addressing bad backs over wider public health concerns.

Books & the Arts / Zoe Adams