She texts atop Mount Washington
then switches to her headphones
when she descends the gulches of
the presidential deadzones.
Her solar-powered iPod Touch
has seasons five through nine
of Gossip Girl in case she’s forced
to spread her tent off-line.
On Valley Way she pauses for
A selfie and hits share.
She doesn’t mention where she is;
she isn’t really there.
—Stephen Scaer
What We’ve Been Reading—Autumn 2025
First Things staff share their most recent autumn reading recommendations.
Walker Percy’s Pilgrimage
People can get used to most anything. Even the abyss may be rendered tolerable—or, for that matter,…
Outgrowing Nostalgia in The Ballad of Wallis Island
No man is an island,” John Donne declares in his Devotions upon Emergent Occasions. The Ballad of…