A cold coming we had of it just the worst time of the year for a journey and such a long journey. There were times we regretted the summer palaces on slopes, the terraces and the silken girls bringing sherbert. Certainly, we had evidence, and no doubt I had seen birth and death, but had thought they were different. Like death, our death, we return to our places, these kingdoms, but no longer at ease here in the old dispensation with an alien people clutching their gods. So when I read this poem to my children as a practice, they said: Dad, that’s kind of dark.

Source: New York Times December 24, 2025 11:34 UTC