The uplifted unfolded phone
casts its lunar digital glow
on the face of the young woman pausing
to scan its screen before snapping
the microelectronics shut
the way my mother would close her compact,
that slim round clamshell
whose hard black plastic shallow halves
opened to offer a handy mirror
hinged to pressed powder
she’d deftly pad onto her tired turned cheeks
before hiding it in the purse with a click,
that vanity the size of a rotary’s slow dial”
a way to reach herself, a local call.
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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