Fall Forward
Traditionally, fall is the season of cozy. Flaming leaves; breezy afternoons; peaceful pumpkin-spiced perspectives. But lately there’s been none of that. Leaves are flaming because forests are on fire; breezes blow, but they’ve been given names and come in alphabetical order, tearing the roofs off of barns and flooding subways; and that odd aroma and artificial taste tickling your palate is no seasonal latte as much as it is a potpourri of rants, lies, bad information, performative outrage and pleas for sanity, reason or something resembling a universal, collective truth. Truth. We yearn for it, we seek it and we fight to get it out into the world for all to see and share. Truth is getting hard to find and even harder to identify collectively.

So where does art fit into all this?

In past issues we encouraged our readers to click on our link and experience our quarterly roster of amazing artists as a means of escaping the madness. But we should never mistake escape for disengagement or hiding from hard things. Fun fact: Ostriches sticking their heads in the sand to hide from the truth is a myth! They stick their heads in the sand to make sure their eggs are safe; they are securing their futures.

Sometimes, what looks like hiding, or escaping, is actually an act of digging deep to unearth chunks of universal truths, nuggets of a shared reality that confirms our humanity and brings us the solace we seek.

In this latest issue, Fall 2021 Issue 15, we have poets and storytellers from across America and across the world. The pieces we have selected for this, our fifteenth issue, are chock full of those chunks and nuggets of humanity, expressed in ways that are beautiful, sad and brazen, but always unique, universal and true.

Enjoy.