October 2020
EDITOR'S NOTE
Dear Villagers,
October is special for me, being my birth month. It is filled with the wonder of summer morphing into autumn, with the attendant splendor of plants changing color. Harvests are completed and preparations begin for winter. It is a time of great beauty, and a time to appreciate our prosperity. Normally, it would be a time to breathe a sigh of relief for a successful year.
However, nothing about this October seems normal. The coronavirus pandemic continues unchecked. For pretty much everyone outside the circle of extreme wealth, economic instability is a constant worry. Jobs lost. Homes lost. Health insurance lost. Friends and family lost - both to political differences and to death. We are coming up on a presidential election in America unlike any in the history of our country, where the fate of our democracy hangs in the balance. Protests against police brutality and killings are marred by violence and looting. Racism, bigotry, and naked hate are on full display, with encouragement from those who should be doing the most to stop them. The rule of law is being constantly subverted, and political hypocracy is rampant. It would be easy to cry "We are doomed!" and withdraw into whatever protective shell we can find.
What does this have to do with poetry? Everything. Poets have always been active participants in the struggle to survive difficult times. We write to persuade. We write to denounce. We write to document. We write to challenge the wrongs that we see. What we do NOT do is throw up our hands and surrender to despair. "this is not the time to howl" is my personal poem of defiance. If yours has not been written yet, write it. Share it. Use the gift of your words to encourage everyone you can reach to stand up and be counted in this conflict.
I call on the Verse-Virtual community to rise up. Be active, be involved. Make sure you are registered and then VOTE! Wherever in the world you are, if there are elections being held, show up loud and proud to be part of the process.
Submissions for the November issue open on October 1 and close on October 10. There is an OPTIONAL theme of "Survival" for this issue, however you choose to interpret it. But before you send your poems, read the guidelines. Maybe read them twice. I discard submissions that don't adhere to the requirements, as some of you are discovering.
My sincere hope is that we all can find personal peace amid the chaos.
Jim
October is special for me, being my birth month. It is filled with the wonder of summer morphing into autumn, with the attendant splendor of plants changing color. Harvests are completed and preparations begin for winter. It is a time of great beauty, and a time to appreciate our prosperity. Normally, it would be a time to breathe a sigh of relief for a successful year.
However, nothing about this October seems normal. The coronavirus pandemic continues unchecked. For pretty much everyone outside the circle of extreme wealth, economic instability is a constant worry. Jobs lost. Homes lost. Health insurance lost. Friends and family lost - both to political differences and to death. We are coming up on a presidential election in America unlike any in the history of our country, where the fate of our democracy hangs in the balance. Protests against police brutality and killings are marred by violence and looting. Racism, bigotry, and naked hate are on full display, with encouragement from those who should be doing the most to stop them. The rule of law is being constantly subverted, and political hypocracy is rampant. It would be easy to cry "We are doomed!" and withdraw into whatever protective shell we can find.
What does this have to do with poetry? Everything. Poets have always been active participants in the struggle to survive difficult times. We write to persuade. We write to denounce. We write to document. We write to challenge the wrongs that we see. What we do NOT do is throw up our hands and surrender to despair. "this is not the time to howl" is my personal poem of defiance. If yours has not been written yet, write it. Share it. Use the gift of your words to encourage everyone you can reach to stand up and be counted in this conflict.
I call on the Verse-Virtual community to rise up. Be active, be involved. Make sure you are registered and then VOTE! Wherever in the world you are, if there are elections being held, show up loud and proud to be part of the process.
Submissions for the November issue open on October 1 and close on October 10. There is an OPTIONAL theme of "Survival" for this issue, however you choose to interpret it. But before you send your poems, read the guidelines. Maybe read them twice. I discard submissions that don't adhere to the requirements, as some of you are discovering.
My sincere hope is that we all can find personal peace amid the chaos.
Jim