Brightly it gapes at the room. Nothing can argue the glass
out of its passive (but wait: impassive, call it) alert,
ready and able to mate doubles in pitiless pairs,
mimicking background as well, fixed in its quicksilver depth.
Threatened by such unappeased ardor to match what appears
with a relentlessly true witness to each crooked seam,
blemish or wrinkle or stain? Switch off the light and reflect:
all that the mirror can show cannot correctly portray
which is your right or your left. Nor can it see much beyond
frame-edge, or back of your eyes. Here, as the Book says, we see
through a glass, darkly, and no image reveals what it veils.
So it may be, but the peace drawn from such dicta is faint.
Catching your twin by surprise, there in his face is a sad
look that is equally yours, longing for something unseen.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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