The stream beneath the site of our proposal
at Vista Valley Country Club’s faux bridge
has brought us here to shop for a disposal
on Friday night at Lowe’s on Sunset Ridge
uphill from Toys-R-Us. Our love was founded
and sealed when we agreed to wear these bands.
These symbols of infinity surrounded
the two of us in youth. Now we’re old hands,
who throughout thirty years have learned to wipe
bottoms and tears, and that these rings of gold
are nothing more than tiny bits of pipe”
expensive plumbing with a bent to hold
resentments since we plug them with our fingers.
Tonight we’ll buy a ring where nothing lingers.
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.
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