November 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE
Dear Villagers,
First, my thanks to Michael Gessner, who graciously consented to be the guest editor for this issue. His experience and insight in selecting these poems helped shape November's issue into another outstanding Verse-Virtual publication. Like a well-done Broadway production, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the audience isn't aware of, and doesn't need to know about to enjoy the show. Thank you, Michael.
To say that this year has been "difficult" would be to diminish the trauma that the world in general, and America in specific, have suffered. Disease, disaster, debt, and death have taken their toll, directly or indirectly on all of us. I chose the theme of Survival for this issue for a simple reason. Nobody escapes trauma in this life. For some it may be remote, for some, as recent as today. The term survival implies continuing on in spite of the trauma. I believe that no one heals from trauma without saying something to another person, whether that’s a friend, a spouse, a therapist, a clergyman, or even to a poem. We write to acknowledge our trauma, witness someone else’s trauma, or offer hope of healing from trauma. This month's poems reflect all of that, and I thank you for them. We are in a chaotic time, and we each need to know that we can survive this time of upheaval. Through collective and individual kindness, we can survive it better.
Submissions for December's issue are open from the 1st through the 10th of November. The OPTIONAL theme is "Gratitude." As always, I suggest, plead, exhort, admonish, warn you not to ignore the submission guidelines. I truly love this community, but even labors of love have their limits.
--JL
First, my thanks to Michael Gessner, who graciously consented to be the guest editor for this issue. His experience and insight in selecting these poems helped shape November's issue into another outstanding Verse-Virtual publication. Like a well-done Broadway production, there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the audience isn't aware of, and doesn't need to know about to enjoy the show. Thank you, Michael.
To say that this year has been "difficult" would be to diminish the trauma that the world in general, and America in specific, have suffered. Disease, disaster, debt, and death have taken their toll, directly or indirectly on all of us. I chose the theme of Survival for this issue for a simple reason. Nobody escapes trauma in this life. For some it may be remote, for some, as recent as today. The term survival implies continuing on in spite of the trauma. I believe that no one heals from trauma without saying something to another person, whether that’s a friend, a spouse, a therapist, a clergyman, or even to a poem. We write to acknowledge our trauma, witness someone else’s trauma, or offer hope of healing from trauma. This month's poems reflect all of that, and I thank you for them. We are in a chaotic time, and we each need to know that we can survive this time of upheaval. Through collective and individual kindness, we can survive it better.
Submissions for December's issue are open from the 1st through the 10th of November. The OPTIONAL theme is "Gratitude." As always, I suggest, plead, exhort, admonish, warn you not to ignore the submission guidelines. I truly love this community, but even labors of love have their limits.
--JL