From the day my old man hazed the young cadet
to now, as I pull on my socks,
how many universes have been born?
That eager Ensign, still too wet
behind the ears, became the king of jocks,
an astronaut amid the alien corn.
Each waking moment is a walk in space.
Pull up your socks and join the human race.
My old man, blown by Iwo Jima guns
to meet my mother at a dance,
survived that marriage and the war, but lost
the eldest of his troubled sons
whose body fell forever in a trance.
There is no calculation of the cost.
Each waking moment is a walk in space.
Pull up your socks and join the human race.
We dream a dream that lets the world go round.
At morning I get dressed for work
and wonder if my old man felt this way,
stepping through years without a sound.
How many men will ever leave a mark
that could last longer than a lunar day?
Each waking moment is a walk in space.
Pull up your socks and join the human race.
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
A Muslim Answer to Muslim Immigration
Modern America worships at the altar of youth and eagerly tracks in polls and market research its…
New Founders Wanted
It’s now 250 years since America declared her independence and embarked on the experiment of fashioning a…
Forget Odysseus. Aeneas Is the True American Hero.
Who is our Odysseus? Or more precisely, who is the most Odyssean hero of American film? Matt…
