First Things RSS Feed - Midge Goldberg https://www.firstthings.com/author/midge-goldberg en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:52:41 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/midge-goldberg 60 Echoes https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/12/echoes https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/12/echoes Tue, 01 Dec 2020 00:00:00 -0500 “Do the kitchen? I’ll give you Swedish Fish!”
I hear negotiations reach a peak,
numbers flying, the clatter of each dish—
the kids are home, visiting for the week.

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]]> Reading the Signs https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/05/reading-the-signs https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/05/reading-the-signs Fri, 01 May 2020 06:00:00 -0400 So-and-so slept here, a date, a list
of battles fought—whatever they’re about,
he reads them all, not just to get the gist
but top to bottom, loudly, calling out
excitedly, listen to this, you guys ,
to share with them this knowledge on display,
this one cool fact. The kids all roll their eyes—
there goes Dad again —and walk away.
They’ve tuned him out so often that I guess
he’s background noise; they never catch the words,
he’s like a soundtrack to their lives—no, less,
refrigerator hum, or maybe birds.
He keeps on reading—oblivious, content.
Maybe someday they’ll know what he meant.

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]]> The Doctor and the Patient in the Next Exam Bay https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/03/the-doctor-and-the-patient-in-the-next-exam-bay https://www.firstthings.com/article/2020/03/the-doctor-and-the-patient-in-the-next-exam-bay Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:00:00 -0500 “Sing it again,” I want to ask them both
as I sit here alone behind mesh drapes
on paper drawn across a vinyl table—
easier to clean but somehow sticky,
not cold, instead uncomfortably warm,
as though I feel the heat of the last patients
(old man? sad woman?), as though they might be catching.

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]]> Prop Tools https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/03/prop-tools https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/03/prop-tools Thu, 02 Mar 2017 00:00:00 -0500 My friend the carpenter (no, not that one)
Told me about a trick some workmen use.
They leave some tools around if they’re not done—
Nothing that they can’t afford to lose—

As if they’ve gone for coffee or a snack,
Or an emergency—a roof with leaks.
They want to keep us thinking, “They’ll be back,”
Despite the fact that days stretch into weeks.

But even if they do this to deceive,
They do it. They need us to think that they’re
Decent, the kind of men who wouldn’t leave.
That Skilsaw on the ground shows wear and tear,
A lot like faith. We need it. So do they.
A promise to believe in anyway.

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]]> Paper Town https://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/05/paper-town https://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/05/paper-town Thu, 01 May 2014 00:00:00 -0400 The fictional town of Agloe, New York, was invented as a
copyright trap by cartographers to help track infringement.

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]]> Paper Town https://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/02/paper-town https://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/02/paper-town Sat, 01 Feb 2014 00:00:00 -0500 People driving through look at the map,
the empty road, the map. They clean their glasses.
Not knowing anything about this trap,
nearby townsfolk shrug, when asked. Time passes.

Myths arise about the mill that closed,
families that were forced to move away.
All sorts of dire causes are supposed.
Day trips are planned, with cheese and Cabernet,

to find anything left behind, to scout
for cellar holes, chimneys, a single door.
Since it’s a shame to let a town die out
like that, someone decides to build a store,

painted in weathered tones of creams and grays,
hoping to recall the halcyon days.

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]]> The Perks https://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/06/007-the-perks https://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/06/007-the-perks Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Why is Satan not too hot in hell?
He doesn’t seem to suffer like the rest
Who languish there. You’d almost say he’s blessed,
He’s acclimated to the place so well.

Perhaps he has a fast metabolism?
But he can’t be impervious to heat-
That would be kind of silly and defeat
The purpose of this weather-changing schism.

No, there’s a different way he disobeys-
An air-conditioned office where he stays,
A well-stocked mini-fridge that would entice
God himself-cold beer and, oh, the ice!
To his chagrin, he cannot let God know.
From time to time, he mops his brow for show.

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