Please enjoy these works from poets from the States and around the world:
L. Acadia (Wenshan District, Taiwan): “Noctiluca scintillans”
Patricia Hope (Oak Ridge, Tennessee): “Moonchild”
Frank Coffman (Elgin, Illinois): “Merlin’s Return”
Megan Branning (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania): “Wand of Iron”
Deborah Davitt (Houston, Texas): “Red Blood, Dark Water”
Daniel Roop (Knoxville, Tennessee): “The Ridge, Scruggs County, Tennessee”
Simon MacCulloch (London, UK): “Minotaur”
Randall Andrews (Brooklyn, Michigan): “Relative”
Richard Magahiz (Wilmington, Delaware): “Groats in the Broth of Heaven”
Be sure to read the author’s backstories and editorial comments for more information about the poem and its content. Note also, that every one of these poets have provided an audio recording for your increased enjoyment. Your editor has gathered, adapted, or created art with various tools.
In these collective works, you’ll see a predominance of fantasy as the speculative element (in other issues, science fiction might predominate). Beginning with an underwater adventure with a touch of metaphysics (“Noctiluca scintillans”), we are then propelled to the fanciful skipping on the moon (“Moonchild”). This is followed by an ekphrasis with a created form, the mega-sonnet (“Merlin’s Return”) and a whimsical poem inspired alchemy and material science (“Wand of Iron”). Folklore involving kelpies (“Red Blood, Dark Water”) and the magic and myth of kudzu (“The Ridge, Scruggs County, Tennessee”). This is followed by surreal poem (“Minotaur”) with an intriguing rhythm and a science fiction piece inspired by special relativity (“Relative”). The poetry selection ends with a surreal sci-fi/fantasy ghazal (“Groats in the Broth of Heaven”).