A Literary Journal
Cover art: Jane Cooper, Winter Cairns II
Editor’s Note – Winter 2026
The stories and play in this issue feature protagonists who feel alone in the world but, in various and unique ways, find unusual connections with others. A shunned recluse in rural Canada finds purpose in his concern for neighborhood children; a camp counselor gains insight through her relationship with a blind boy; a man facing a mysterious disease comes to terms with his situation by embracing it; a neurodiverse teenage boy saves a girl by forcing her harassers to engage with him on his terms. The power of individuals asserting themselves in challenging and hostile environments rings true to us today.
We bring you poems that measure time and the self, and how one’s perspective changes while memory holds it in place. Most poems notice details in nature that interact with the manufactured world. Our poets play with other people’s writing and art in order to make sense of their own. Once again, we offer you a variety of poetic forms: the Alexandrine, contoured villanelle, Golden Shovel, prose poem, sonnet, and sculpted free verse. True, there’s sadness here, loves that end, outlooks that change, but each poem presents language to remember where and who we are.