First Saturday of Summer in Virginia

First Saturday of Summer in Virginia

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

Day lilies dotting the ditches orange,
between tilting mailboxes, amid blue chicory
and swales of yellow buttercups.

Northwest on Jefferson Highway, alert for bright
yellow signs printed YARD SALE,
freight train clanging on my right. To follow

arrows onto gravel driveways through the woods
to arrive at run-down trailers or two-story
homes with wraparound porches, wide front lawns

and tables of children’s clothing, glassware,
games, dolls, obsolete electronics. All around,
blue tarps on wet grass with bags of worn quilts

and sheets, paired shoes and boots, jeans laid out
like Civil War soldiers piled in an open grave.
To drive from sale to sale as the sun climbs

the sky, blue as Hollywood eyes, coffee
in a GO cup. To end at the Art & Craft Show
at St. Jude’s, where men with orange flags direct parking

across the street from mounds of mulch, gravel, sand,
compost. To watch a teen tap dance to the beat
of a jangly country song, swirling her flared skirt.

Become a Sustaining Donor This September

Between the reemergence of right-wing red-baiting and Donald Trump’s use of the chilling National Security Presidential Memorandum–7 to criminalize left political organizing, we’re seeing McCarthyism reborn before our eyes.

This assault on democracy cannot be ignored or wished away. Resisting it requires bravery in the face of threats and repression, a steadfast commitment to the truth, and the unwavering belief that we can—and will—overcome this darkness.

We must have an independent media that sets the record straight, unearths corruption and abuses of power, and advances a politics of justice and dignity for all if we’re to win this fight.

That’s why I’m writing to you today. This September, The Nation needs to add 100 monthly donors to sustain our progressive journalism. Your contribution makes the next investigative report, the next truth-speaking column, and the next pathbreaking essay all possible. 

I hope you’ll support our work with a recurring donation today. If you donate $10 or more a month, we’ll send you a brand new “Hands Off the Free Press!” sticker to recognise your commitment to our cause. Please, donate today. 

Onward,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x