Spring 2015, Volume 18

From the Guest Editor

I suppose we all have our own reasons for April being the cruelest month: for me, it starts by looking at the newly thawed, gray-grass lawn and remembering summer even though it’s still only 45 degrees outside. That urge toward summers past, toward light and heat and youth. Nostalgia can be a form of cruelty, that sweet ache of memory, that love of what’s lost. In this Spring issue of Verdad, nostalgias roost in Laura Sobbott Ross’ “My Son, at Fourteen,” in Kathleen Diane Nolan’s “Sisters,” and in Joan Mclean’s “But It’s Been Too Long,” which guesses that “Maybe age drags its horny feet so that now / I can hold these things for a moment.” In subtler forms, nostalgia inhabits Phil Nast’s restless dead who still feel the do-it-yourself need to repair, and in James Lineberger’s meandering, narrative punch in “Continental Drift.” Meanwhile, there’s a gritty irreverence in Michelle Askins’ “Strain” and Meg Johnson’s clever and wry “Mexican Hat Dance,” which asks, “Don’t they get it? I’m trying to push the boundaries of art.” This issue also features a series of poems by Darren C. Demaree that wrestle with identity and its merging with an other, with the body and bodilessness. And finally, we’ve included a review of Malachai Black’s debut poetry collection, Storm Toward Morning, which is as deft a welding of old forms, eternal questions, and new diction as I’ve seen.

As always, I must send a humbled and sincere thank you to the people who make this magazine purr: Rochelle Coco, who churns all of these fine words and images into a glowing website; Jack Miller, who runs the fabulous art show here, and of course, Head Hancho, Bonnie Bolling, who rules benevolently and with grace. I become more and more impressed with Verdad the longer I help out here, as so many online magazines emerge hot and fold fast these days. Verdad’s archives stretch back to 2006 (next year will be a decade!), publishing work from emerging writers and artists as well as new gems from big names. It’s pretty easy to start a blog/site/twitter/facebook page, but to maintain a magazine for nearly a decade with a consistent energy and an evolving vision that can keep up is really astounding. I hope you all find as much to enjoy in this issue as I have. Onward to summer!

 

                                                                                     — Bill Neumire