Winter Editorial 2023-24

In the twenty-seven years of publishing this journal, I don't know that times have ever been so bleak. Amidst our continuing supply of weapons to a genocide the world can see -- and to a proxy war that could easily go nuclear, we enter into an election year with no possible good outcome; a choice between genocide and WWIII or overt fascism and national breakdown. Yet, we can be neither complicit nor complacent.

We struggle to afford price-gouged groceries and medicines. We struggle against being pushed out of our homes by greedy banks and landlords and then criminalized for being unhoused. Women are struggling for the right of making basic personal life choices. We labor daily under arrogant bosses and struggle to survive a deeply broken, unaffordable medical system even as the Pentagon budget climbs and billions are spent to murder innocent people around the world.

We protest, we organize and we fight back but those at the top and their embedded media downplay or ignore us. Yet we continue because we must.

This collection speaks to the times. It speaks of losses, personal and financial. Poets here rail at the utter corruption of empire and of those of us sacrificed to pad the pockets of the Pentagon and profiteers. There are poems of medical dread, of the difficulties of becoming old, ill and cast aside. There are poems on homelessness, a story on human trafficking and poems on the proliferation of guns and violence in our own country as well as on our export of them around the world.

As it is an election year, we are already beginning to get the Trump-focused poetry that we've been inundated with in the past. As much as we detest the self-obsessed, fascist grifter, we will likely take few of these. Aside from our not-for-profit status, we understand that the problem isn't any one person -- no matter how vile -- but the life-destroying system of corrupt corporate oligarchy that produces and foists such terrible and limited choices on us a like a cynical scripted shell game. What this underscores is the desperate need for systemic change -- for revolution. That requires building a critical mass which includes all of us.

This journal exists as an interactive project but its ultimate goal is outreach in building that critical mass. Our co-workers and neighbors, no matter their views, are our brothers and sisters. Their lives and experiences are reflected in our pages as well. As a cultural venue which focuses on those issues and experiences we can shape attitudes as well as educate perspectives. Thus, we remain apart from the partisan narratives which serve to cultivate division and animosity.

This project depends ultimately on you. This is not limited to strong writing but, by necessity, includes the support that allows us to keep publishing and getting your words out there. As a print on paper journal, those words last. We have over 27 years of issues still circulating and hopefully making a difference.

This is our annual fundraising issue. We understand how tough the times are but anything you can donate makes a difference and helps keep this journal going even as rising prices make it more of a challenge. We thank you in advance for your dedication, generosity, your feedback and your writing.