The Summer Solstice Issue

While the virulence of Covid has declined, the pandemics of violence and hunger afflict large swaths of the world’s population.  In places like Sudan, Haiti, and Gaza, unfortunate citizens are victimized by both violence and hunger. Even among those of us privileged to live in the United States, there are many who suffer physical or psychological abuse, incapacitating addictions, and food insecurity. Concerned people can donate to worthy organizations and causes, vote for fair-minded representatives, or serve their communities in different capacities, but pervasive social problems are massively complex, and won’t be remediated by the selfless acts of individuals.

And yet, to stand by and do nothing is to be in some way complicit with the causes of pandemic suffering.  Shelley wrote that poets “are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Be that as it may, at least we can agree that poets—I’m using the word in its original Greek sense, “maker,” so as to include artists in all genres—are those who interpret the world imaginatively and enable new ways of understanding through their art. In this Summer Solstice issue, we feature creators who think about the discrepancy between the real and the ideal, and who offer their work as an analysis of human behavior when confronted by pervasive, widespread, and dangerous situations.

Drug addiction is tackled by Julia Wilson’s short story, “Mike and the Law” and by Theresa DeSalvio’s “Tales:  A Cautionary Story About Heroin Addiction.”  DeSalvio’s painted tableaux reimagine Collodi’s classic, “Pinocchio,” as a series of bad decisions with dire consequences.  Set in the grime of an urban landscape, Alexandra Burack’s poem, “Servitude,” considers violence against women; Kelly Vance’s poem, “One Small Accessory,” examines the divisive sociopolitical force of face masks; Tara Menon’s “Rice Offerings” ruminates on prayer as a change agent.  Each of these features looks at ways that people confront social malignity, and their format, imagery, and emotional depth are potent responses to the worst and best of human behaviors.

With this issue, we begin a new publication schedule.  A Plate of Pandemic will now appear twice yearly, on the Summer and Winter Solstices, rather than quarterly.  The next issue will appear on the shortest day of the year, December 21^st.  

Selma Moss-Ward

Editor

21 June 2024