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EDITOR’S NOTE
Dear RPP Readers,
Welcome to Issue 14! This issue arrives at a time of strain and rapid change. The political climate in our country is charged, regardless of where one stands. Language has become both instrument and fault line. As poets, we work differently. We listen. We hold space for what cannot always be easily resolved, and we leave room for hope.
At RockPaperPoem, we seek poems that do not turn away. We are drawn to work that attends to beauty and fracture, often within the same breath. The poems in this issue move through the liminal, tracing what is, what was, and what may yet be. They illuminate the spaces we share and the ones we struggle to face.
Across these pages, there is grief. There is loss. There is also a quiet, persistent strength, particularly in the voices of women who refuse erasure and speak from within and beyond rupture. In “Ode to the Fall,” Amy Riddell renders that strength with clarity and force. Michelle Patton’s “Eve in Menopause” speaks with equal precision and authority. And in Abby Kusmin’s “Ruinous Living,” we meet a speaker who refuses to settle for anything less than a full life, even if it’s a hard one.
In “Rainforest,” David Lee Garrison turns us toward something expansive, inviting us to imagine ourselves as river, as mountain, as part of a larger, sustaining world.
The issue closes with “Golden Shovel on a Line From the Witness in the Pink Coat,” by Kimberly Gibson-Tran, a poem that draws a literal, meandering line through its city center. It is a poem of movement and witness, of attention sustained over time.
This is one of the strongest collections we have published. That strength belongs first to the poets, but also to an editorial team that read deeply, cared about the work, and advocated for the poems they believed needed to be seen.
These poems may unsettle you—some offering open grief, others making room for light. A few may do both at once. We invite you to join us and not turn away.
Thank you for being here, and for helping us make this journal a place of attention, care, and necessary art.
Warmly,
RPP Editors
Pam Sinicrope, Lisa Higgs, Valeria Eden, and Susan McMillan
Image Credits:
“Ruinous Living” by Abby Kusmin
Image: Red heart-shaped lollipops by Fiona Murray
Source: Pexels———————
“Ode to the Fall” by Amy Riddell
Image: Mysterious Portrait with Heart-Shaped Apple by Ahmed Jay
Source: Pexels———————
“Every Concrete Inch” by Hilary King
Image: Parking Garage at RDU Airport by Alexisrael
Source: Wikimedia Commons———————
“Same Time, Next Year?” by Amber Hope
Image: Frozen Blackberries by Soumia Photography
Art Direction by Deborah Goschy
Source: Pexels———————
“Rainforest” by David Lee Garrison
Image: Borneo rainforest by Dukeabruzzi
Source: Wikimedia Commons———————
“Limerence Cages Another Victim” by Amanda Conover
Image: Funhouse Brain and Cotton Candy Heart by Deborah Goschy———————
“Endling” by Melody Wilson
Image: Six Women Facing Body of Water Taking Picture by Chu Chup Hinh
Source: Pexels———————
“Still Here” by Annette Sisson
Image: Dried Flowers and Music Sheet by Nur Yilmaz
Source: Pexels———————
“What To Do if Eleven Days Have Come and Gone Since the Guidance Counselor Called with “Grave Concerns” and Your Daughter Won’t Speak of What’s Wrong” by Jennifer L. Freed
Image: Female Mixing Ingredients in Bowl with Whisk by Mikhail Nilov
Source: Pexels———————
“At the Appointed Hour” by Bruce McRae
Image: Selective Photo of Man’s Blue Eye by Andriyko Podilnyk
Source: Unsplash———————
“United” by Shawn Aveningo-Sanders
Image: Starling Murmuration – RSPB Minsmere by Airwolfhound
Source: Wikimedia Commons———————
“Conditions of Use” by Veronica Tucker
Image: Cup of Cappuccino Placed on Shabby Wooden Table in Classic Styled Apartment by Maria Orlova
Source: Pexels———————
“Basement Arteries” by May Garner
Image: Pipes Near White Tiles by Bayram Er
Source: Pexels———————
“Swimming to Alcatraz” by Angela Cummings
Image: Coyote on Water on Field by Thomas Parker
Source: Pexels———————
“I Call You on the Verge of Panic” by Annie Dade
Image: Reflective Silhouette of Woman Using Smartphone by Talha Uğuz
Source: Pexels———————
“Geometry” by Viola Lee
Image: Toy Blocks in Row by Towfiqu Barbhuiya
Source: Pexels———————
“Gold” by Elizabeth Joy Levinson
Image: Two Hands Holding Each Other
Source: PickPik———————
“Sculpting My Own” by Jonathan B. Aibel
Image: Crop Man Modelling Clay Bowl on Wheel by Monstera Production
Source: Pexels———————
“Visiting Montreal in March” by Sarah Carleton
Image: Person Standing Near Road During Nighttime by Kevin Mach
Source: Pexels———————
“They Said the Cat Has Cancer” by Abby Kusmin
Image: Person Giving High Five to Grey Cat by Snapwire
Source: Pexels———————
“Still Point” by Margaret Hasse
Image: Beautiful Bee Bloom
Source: PxHere———————
“Hometown” by Beth Kanell
Images: Wooden Floor with Fitness Mat for Home Workout by Dmytro Sidelnikov and Person Standing in Snow With Boots by Unsplash
Art Direction by Deborah Goschy
Sources: Freepik and Freerange Stock———————
“Eve in Menopause” by Michelle Patton
Image: Flowers on Person’s Legs by G Kara
Source: Pexels———————
“Million Dollar Adria” by Sascha Cohen
Image: A Sad Crying Woman by Lena Glukhova
Source: Pexels———————
“Golden Shovel on a Line from the Witness in the Pink Coat” by Kimberly Gibson-Tran
Image: City in Winter by Andrew Patrick
Source: Pexels
