Yesterday we had a rare sunny day, and I took the pictures featured here just to savor the day and share it with you. For some reason, it has been raining in biblical proportions in Indianapolis lately. This doesn’t fare well for my long standing phobia of storms, wind and rain. If anyone has any tips on how to combat this phobia, drop me a line. I have had it since I was a girl, and I’m about ready to try hypnotherapy, anything!
So it has been to the backdrop of rain that we have been creating these pages, formatting these poems. As usual, I enjoy getting lost in the work as I read, escaping a little for a few minutes.
What even is a poem? In this issue we are once again grateful for the wide range of voices, themes and styles of poetry that we are fortunate to share with you, and we heartily thank our contributors. We challenge you to think beyond the usual definition of poetry and check out the long visual poem by Naoko Fujimoto that has been written on a roll of toilet paper, in the style of a scroll of papyrus! Fujimoto’s work is just one of the five amazing artists that we are publishing in this issue.
There’s only a couple days left, but I hope that you are able to enjoy National Poetry Month in whatever way suits you. I have celebrated by publishing this issue and by creating poetry related assignments in all my English comp classes this month. However, I have written almost nothing this month, as it has been a crazy and stressful month for multiple reasons. I knew that going into this month and tried to absolve myself of the sin of not writing, but you all know how that goes. . .
Anyhow, I hope you can escape, be comforted, and be challenged in reading over the work featured here. Happy Spring and Happy NaPoMo!
Sincerely,
Natalie Solmer
EIC
Indianapolis 4-28-19
P.S.–We are looking for Indianapolis based writers and artists to submit work for a special Indianapolis Issue in the fall. You must currently live in the area. The work you send does not have to have any particular theme. Please let us know in your email subject and in your cover letter that you are submitting to the Indianapolis issue. We are also always open for ‘regular’ submissions. Send us your work attached to your email to theindianapolisreview@gmail.com Find out more details here.
