Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!
MENU
Donate to First Things

  1. Nature

Sunflowers

Without warning, they appear, eachcluster separate from the next, goldbeads strung on strands of grass,glowing on the darkest days beneaththe fringe of summer trees, though whoknows how, or where they came from?Yet faith, not knowledge, is the sourceof hope that each bright blossom bringsalong with . . . . Continue Reading »

Ruby Throat

A hummingbird’s wings might beat a thousandstrokes a minute. The birds can swerve, hover,fly backwards and straight up, their hearts beatingfaster than other birds’ hearts. Their nests are walnut-sized, a child’s tea cupof a nest, a lichen-coated thimblelined with plant matter, barely . . . . Continue Reading »

Mirror Work

The peak that paints the lakeIs quick to break. A height becomes a depth,A life a death. An Eiger sinks beneathThe eager cleat As seeking shows us whatWe sought is not. To find a seeker’s pleasureIn self-erasure The mountaineer must wishHerself to mist. —Amit Majmudar Photo by thijser . . . . Continue Reading »

Fermata

Let us go then, up the long stairs            and down the hall,Through rooms in which a storm of air            electrical Takes hold, and windows fill with light           that strips awayThe darkness, . . . . Continue Reading »

Deer Appear

Early in the morning deer appearout of the dark, a flicker of eyes.They allow me to get quite near, then vanish noiseless in the brush—like stars over a busy city—like lines that come in midnight’s hush and are gone at dawn—like a whirlwind that scoopsup trash from a parking lot, . . . . Continue Reading »

The Hawks in the Leaves

The silly chickens huddle in dismay.Each shadow cast by falling leaves they taketo be a hawk descending on its prey.They’re scared, while I’m just resting on my rake.Today’s the stripping day, when in a blinkour postcard fall receives its fatal blow.Some blame the southwest wind. I’d like to . . . . Continue Reading »

By Starlight Undiminished

On behalf of the Second Continental Congress in declaring America’s independence, Jefferson in the first paragraph of the Declaration drew upon authority greater than the Crown, the British Empire, and the long traditions of English law and government. “With a firm Reliance on the protection of . . . . Continue Reading »

How to Look at a Tree

Across the road from my house, presiding over a patch of lawn between my parish church and the old schoolhouse, there is a chestnut tree. I cannot say that the tree is particularly important to me; days can go by without my looking at it or taking any thought of it. And yet, if I turn my attention . . . . Continue Reading »

Featured Authors

    Filter Tag Articles

    2022 First Things. All rights reserved.
    View our privacy policy here.
    212.627.1985 ft@firstthings.com
    EV SSL Certificate EV SSL Certificate