Overture to a Tragedy

Overture to a Tragedy

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Greetings to you who holds me close.
I hold you close because of your beauty
(I wanted to possess your beauty)—

The beauty which leaves your body that remains.

Greetings to you who stares at my face.
I stare at your face because of your smile
(I wanted to possess your smile)—

The smile which leaves your lips that remain.

Greetings to you who wakes me from sleep.
I wake you from sleep because of your dreams
(I wanted to possess your dreams)—

The dreams with nowhere to go when you wake.

Greetings to you and your luminous gaze.
You know that I’m not a thief.
I covet only one thing irresistibly,

Your heart—I beg you,

please, replace my heart with yours.

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The chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration reaches new lows each week.

Trump’s catastrophic “Liberation Day” has wreaked havoc on the world economy and set up yet another constitutional crisis at home. Plainclothes officers continue to abduct university students off the streets. So-called “enemy aliens” are flown abroad to a mega prison against the orders of the courts. And Signalgate promises to be the first of many incompetence scandals that expose the brutal violence at the core of the American empire.

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In just the last month, we’ve published reporting on how Trump outsources his mass deportation agenda to other countries, exposed the administration’s appeal to obscure laws to carry out its repressive agenda, and amplified the voices of brave student activists targeted by universities.

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In solidarity,

The Editors

The Nation

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