Thanks for playing. Here’s your consolation prize:
a mountain capped with fog, the sun behind
throwing light circumspectly on a lake, the way
a painter lights a lovely face from out
of frame. I’m sorry that you didn’t win, but here’s
your daughter’s voice at eight floating on breath
as softly as a leaf drifts down a sleepy creek.
And take this memory: your father’s pipe
left by his chair, the cherry bowl burned black, the wood
worn thin beneath his fingertips. You did
not win first-place or runner-up or even third.
Few do; few can. The exit lights are lit.
So take these prizes with you and go home. Grow old.
From time to time take out these things and be consoled.
—Benjamin Myers
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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