Diaspora

On the giant’s hill, in the child’s eye,
the old house stands hermaphrodite,
the mother-father rolled in light.
In brazen day, that Zion’s done:
a trumpet cry to still the sun.

Beware, my love, beware, beware,
the sky’s on fire and the air
is singed along its western rim.
Desire for day at dusk grows dim.

In the city’s prism, in the schism light,
the rain bends down the neon night.
Unseen, sequestered daughters cry
and in his bed a young man mourns
the Babylon of traffic horns.

Cold heart beneath the city street,
the subway lines, the sewers’ heat,
Cold heart that hates a lovers’ twine,
why break my lover’s heart from mine?

In the frozen zero, in the center night,
a cold heart plots against the light
and schemes to hide all range of sky.
The cities of the plain will change
my love to salt, her love to strange.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Our Most Popular Articles of 2025

The Editors

It’s been a big year for First Things. Our website was completely redesigned, and stories like the…

Our Year in Film & Television—2025

Various

First Things editors and writers share the most memorable films and TV shows they watched this year.…

Religious Freedom Is the Soul of American Security

Christopher J. Motz

In the quiet sanctuary of West Point’s Old Cadet Chapel, a striking mural crowns the apse above…