With our cameras and crumpled clothes
we wait for the bus. We rush to each
“beauty spot” through narrow streets,
observing signs whose alphabet we fail
to comprehend.
Pretty girls are scattered like rain.
We pass students on bikes, old people
stooped over bundles. The new “good life”
of Japan smiles at us from Coke posters
on rundown store fronts. Dingy flats
and factories crowd the roads, relieved
briefly by ragged patches of green and graceful shrines.
Although he tries to make things clear,
the guide is mechanical and tired.
The bus windows are splattered with
rain and each of us is deep in murky water.
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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