We titled this sampler of poems after a line in Sean Purio's poem collected here. "Bloom and fade" seemed to be the theme that occurred and recurred in these verses: the onset of autumn, the resonance of early dark, the blight of trees, and a pulsing of loss and grief. These poems also resist the fatalism and resignation of death, hunger, regret, even seasonal depression and Trump flags on a beach. Open this sampler and prepare to be inspired by the tenacity of language. We're honored to share these poem with you.
~Marianne Worthington, poetry editor
photo ©Dereck Hammers