In Fall there is harvest and bounty, we dig in.  In Winter there is darkness and cold, we hunker down, plant seeds, protect them from the frost.  But in Spring, with its fragrant blossoms and popping buds, we cross our fingers.  We close our eyes and turn our faces up to the gods; we do our secret mojo moves – three snaps, two twists, one long ‘ooohhhhmmm’ – we hope.  Maybe that’s where “hope springs eternal” came from, because hope lives in Spring.

Actually, the line is from an Alexander Pope poem (we remember it from English 10B at Magpie U, but you can Google it or ask your AI Lover).  The full line is, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.”

The point?  We may not live forever, but we are forever blessed with hope.  We hope that the seeds we plant take hold, that our buds grow and bear fruit, that the fruits of our labor spread their seeds.  This is what organisms are all about.

So too with the Thieving Magpie.  We have planted many seeds over the past twenty-nine seasons and have seen many budding artists grow in our pages and move on to spread their art and help make this chaotic world a bit more fragrant, help make sweet sense of all the bitter mayhem that surrounds us, help Make Mischief Fun Again (“MMFA”).

Our Spring 2025 Issue 29 (www.thievingmagpie.org) is bursting with just such aromatic buds – take a sniff!  Intriguing art, sharp photography, mind-tingling poems and, as always, serious fiction, all by a group of international professionals who love being artists in any capacity – no matter what their day jobs are (https://thievingmagpie.org/category/current-parliament/about-the-artists/).

And in the spirit MMFA and spreading our own Magpie-ness, we are excited and delighted to announce that in May 2025 the Thieving Magpie will be making its print debut by publishing a debut novel.  We are at once thrilled and terrified to be venturing into new territory – but also full of hope that it resonates, takes hold and helps broaden our little Nest of Mayhem.  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, enjoy the Spring 2025 Issue.