Poems / July 30, 2024

Of Historical Significance

Michael Wasson

Even the blossoms blown
off in a throb of wind

so god help us
to make love with-

out becoming a plot
of fresh earth some

day the night curved
as a sky sinking

inside an eye I
walk across

a yard of fallen
apples kicking

them to reveal still-
damp flesh & hear

the feet before
the first snow fell

on our lovers
& land before

we worshipped the good
morning in a tongue

trimmed of light I lift
flowers I forgot

the names to in
any English & say

your names the way
I was taught one

after the other.

Michael Wasson

More from The Nation

Donald Trump projects his cultural will-to-power from the presidential box at the Kennedy Center.

The Culture-War Furies Behind Trump’s Film-Tariff Plan The Culture-War Furies Behind Trump’s Film-Tariff Plan

The president doesn’t have the authority to impose tariffs on movies produced abroad, but he still wants to be the right’s designated culture commissar.

Ben Schwartz

An arcade in Seattle, Washington, 1983.

The Fight for the Soul of Video Games The Fight for the Soul of Video Games

Marijam Did’s Everything to Play For makes a case for rebuilding the culture of gaming, which has become infected with rotten politics.

Books & the Arts / Lewis Gordon

Can Spotify Be Stopped?

Can Spotify Be Stopped? Can Spotify Be Stopped?

The streaming service has completely changed what it means to make and listen to music. What can be done to reverse its enormous influence?

Books & the Arts / Mitch Therieau

Caspar David Friedrich, “Woman Before the Rising or Setting Sun,” ca. 1818–24.

The Wandering Souls of Caspar David Friedrich The Wandering Souls of Caspar David Friedrich

The German artist’s landscape paintings tried to capture the sublimity of a world that has vanished.

Books & the Arts / Quinn Moreland

Shulamith Firestone

Tender, Compassionate, Crushing: the Fiction of Shulamith Firestone Tender, Compassionate, Crushing: the Fiction of Shulamith Firestone

In Airless Spaces, the feminist theorist dramatizes what happens when capitalist alienation makes everybody miserable.

Books & the Arts / Zoe Dubno

The Bloody Blues of “Sinners”

The Bloody Blues of “Sinners” The Bloody Blues of “Sinners”

Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster horror period piece sets out to reinvent the creature feature—for better and for worse.

Books & the Arts / Stephen Kearse