EDITOR’S NOTE:
Jennifer Chang, “Dialogues (Against God)” from An Authentic Life. Copyright © 2024 by Jennifer Chang. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Copper Canyon Press
how small did you feel
standing on the edge of Bryce Canyon
but we are always small
my father turning philosophical again
which is to say wandering away from any self
he might have
spoken of the hour the foolishness
with which we sculpt time into a life
my life is not my life
that I should say Ithat I daughter am daughtering
that we think we are different
Every day, The Nation exposes the administration’s unchecked and reckless abuses of power through clear-eyed, uncompromising independent journalism—the kind of journalism that holds the powerful to account and helps build alternatives to the world we live in now.
We have just the right people to confront this moment. Speaking on Democracy Now!, Nation DC Bureau chief Chris Lehmann translated the complex terms of the budget bill into the plain truth, describing it as “the single largest upward redistribution of wealth effectuated by any piece of legislation in our history.” In the pages of the June print issue and on The Nation Podcast, Jacob Silverman dove deep into how crypto has captured American campaign finance, revealing that it was the top donor in the 2024 elections as an industry and won nearly every race it supported.
This is all in addition to The Nation’s exceptional coverage of matters of war and peace, the courts, reproductive justice, climate, immigration, healthcare, and much more.
Our 160-year history of sounding the alarm on presidential overreach and the persecution of dissent has prepared us for this moment. 2025 marks a new chapter in this history, and we need you to be part of it.
We’re aiming to raise $20,000 during our June Fundraising Campaign to fund our change-making reporting and analysis. Stand for bold, independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Publisher, The Nation
that we stand on other margins
far from each other the days altering inordinately distantly
to this he sweeps clean my words with the same refutation
but we are always small
which is to say
we are as good not here as here
in the static of the hour I call dusk
and he calls dinner
silence holds its breath
Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.
(“I’m not dead. Nothing remains, let alone ‘to be said’”)
it bothered me that he claimed to know my mind
when more often a thought hides like sun in fog
I had asked him for a picture of the canyon
a picture of him against the sky’s bluest capacity
was it too much to imagine him standing in enchantment
did you see limber pine aspen thosetaciturn holier-than-thou trees
did you see calm irrigation a river a creekand farther west
the ocean and the country of your birth
I did not think you would use a word
like holy he observes from where his voice sits alone
(disapproving and lonely my father)
what will you have for dinner tonight
how many times will you circle the blocktonight
who will you speak to after me and whytonight
yes I say it all the time
holy holy holy
it does not mean I mean it or understand
Jennifer Chang, “Dialogues (Against God)” from An Authentic Life. Copyright © 2024 by Jennifer Chang. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Copper Canyon Press
Jennifer ChangJennifer Chang is most recently the author of An Authentic Life (Cooper Canyon).