Biting bits of skin from my chapped lips looking for a place to park, I stop behind the gift shop near the graveyard where we buried you on a day like this.
This is another season you wont miss” you, who have become a part of me I tell (the clerk what Mary wants) to no one now.
And in a lot behind a superette I choose a tree, then stop and sniff, consult my list, and go, with nothing on it left to get,
home to wrap her present, cut the wrapping paper short, tape scraps on gaps, come finally to the bow and call for help. she puts her finger on the knot
and speaks of you”a girl we used to know, who knew the people that we used to be. No present waits for them beneath this tree. They’ve changed, like you”almost beyond belief.
Theres nothing left of you for us to see But look how little others see of us who see each other every day now and then.
Mary plugs the lights in then directs me from afar, saying what Im too close to see As I adjust the star.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
