I follow her story only in part,
like a man looking from a lit room at dark
hills, silhouetted against navy skies—
his own staring face superimposed by
a ghostly glare from the light of the room.
At her story’s crux, Timkat lays down her broom
and in an overflow of English says:
You father, doctor, dead. You brother, dead.
You mother, konjo, konjo—beautiful—dead.
You, Why? Why? Why? She turns and drops her head.
I want to say the dead are not fated
to lasting death. Since in death we’re translated
into glory, life that seems uncanny.
It’s there in her name, Timkat—Epiphany.
Instead, I say, I’m sorry—Aznalo.
She stoops to grab her broom. I rise to go.
And though I barely see her story’s trace,
like the hills, she seems to wear my face.
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.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Myth of St. Francis
At the beginning of his 2020 encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis speaks of “an episode in the…
Job and Her
It is said that Job lost everything, but she has lost more. All her possessions—the money, the…
Why the Death Penalty Is a Sore Point for Papal Authority
Pope Leo XIV marked World Day Against the Death Penalty, observed on October 10, with the following…
