Notes from the Editor

Inspired by Peggy Shumaker’s Parenthood, Unplanned, the Spring 2019 issue of Willawaw invited poets and artists to give voice to those who did not have one. This call drew responses from around the world, including South Africa, New Zealand/Tasmania, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Wales, and multiple states in the US. Some of the poems are touching and insightful (Doug Stone’s In Memory of Peter Sears, Louise Barden’s In Search of Simplicity) while others unearth dark secrets (Marietta McGregor’s Dirty Linen, Saoirse Love’s Mother I Feast, Kathleen Hellen’s You said You Dreamed You had a Sister). Thankfully, some of the poems celebrate either the richness of the past or the richness of the present (Laura Lee Washburn’s Then, Hugh Anderson’s Grandson at One, Penelope Schott’s Trying to Show You, Thomas Cannon’s Of Music and Dancing, Elaine Sorrentino’s The Last Gift).

Abigail George is with us again with another love poem, For You I Would be Insane and Lovely at the Same Time, which starts with aging and disintegration and then ends on a high note with “how I went up in smoke that day…the paradise that was Johannesburg.” Lynn White goes Too Far Out her whole life but doesn’t wave. Marjorie Power writes in the shadow and privacy of her blue spruce, then glimpses through an unshaded window the neighbor’s catastrophe and rescue, Poem with No Clouds. Wait until you read Moth Snowstorm (Yvonne Higgins Leach)! I have provided a glimpse into only a fraction of the wonderful poems you will find on these pages.

Darrell Urban Black, a veteran living in Germany, is the featured visual artist. His work is high-chroma and whimsical, bordering on the fantastic, or as he would put it, phantasmal. The titles help to anchor his imaginative expressions. You can read more about him on the Back Page.

It is always an honor to receive the work of the Willawaw contributors. I am very grateful to be able to manage, curate, and edit in conversation with the artists. In addition, I am especially grateful that a handful of Willawaw readers and artists have found the “Support Willawaw Journal” button at the end of the Home Page—thank you! Your support enables me to continue to bring these creations to light!

With great appreciation,
Rachel Barton, Editor