love poem (you’re a little too good at speaking on my behalf)

love poem (you’re a little too good at speaking on my behalf)

love poem (you’re a little too good at speaking on my behalf)

Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky
Pocket
Email

you’re a little too good at speaking on my behalf
at the holiday dinner I sit between you
my mother, her husband, reproduction
everywhere and wonder why we pass
or do we pass? for what? lumpen, wifeish
I know when they ask now tell us
what’s been going on at work they can’t listen.
only men have jobs. why do I care. even though
we agreed on this tactic in the car on the way there
or after we fucked in the bed my sister grew up in
next door to a brass headboard I leaned against
as a child and had bad dreams about touching myself
or being touched as I came, it still feels horrible.

I love to talk
I really love to talk

I like to appear as a person

Time is running out to have your gift matched 

In this time of unrelenting, often unprecedented cruelty and lawlessness, I’m grateful for Nation readers like you. 

So many of you have taken to the streets, organized in your neighborhood and with your union, and showed up at the ballot box to vote for progressive candidates. You’re proving that it is possible—to paraphrase the legendary Patti Smith—to redeem the work of the fools running our government.

And as we head into 2026, I promise that The Nation will fight like never before for justice, humanity, and dignity in these United States. 

At a time when most news organizations are either cutting budgets or cozying up to Trump by bringing in right-wing propagandists, The Nation’s writers, editors, copy editors, fact-checkers, and illustrators confront head-on the administration’s deadly abuses of power, blatant corruption, and deconstruction of both government and civil society. 

We couldn’t do this crucial work without you.

Through the end of the year, a generous donor is matching all donations to The Nation’s independent journalism up to $75,000. But the end of the year is now only days away. 

Time is running out to have your gift doubled. Don’t wait—donate now to ensure that our newsroom has the full $150,000 to start the new year. 

Another world really is possible. Together, we can and will win it!

Love and Solidarity,

John Nichols 

Executive Editor, The Nation

x