S p r i n g 2 0 2 0
Sandy Ostrau © 2020
poetry
Two Poems Molly Tenenbaum
Two Poems Richard Tillinghast
Two Poems Adam J. Gellings
Exit Wound Daniel Hardisty
Two Poems Laura Cherry
Two Poems Katie Brunero
Patio-speak Sarah Sarai
Los Angeles Jennifer Jean
Two Poems Sara Backer
The Checklist Harold Bowes
Untitled Beth Suter
Equinox Jane Craven
Native Landscaping Yuan Changming
Two Poems Sara Kearns
From the Archives Sarah J Sloat
Summer 2014
micro reviews
virtual salon
visuals
from the ether
On words
While our editorial team hails from across the country, both coasts and the Midwest, I’m from Silicon Valley, one of the first places to receive what county supervisors then called “shelter in place orders,” with residents urged to stay home, leaving only for necessary activities. Those orders went into effect March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, and we’ve been living in suspended animation in an increasingly isolated and unfamiliar daily existence for nearly four weeks with four more at minimum to go, now statewide. There is no way to know how much longer it really will be until restrictions are lifted. Most other states are in the midst of their own cycle of social distancing, of rising cases, of trying to flatten the curve.
When the sheltering order began in California, it was initially for two weeks, something that felt drastic at the time, but imaginable. After stocking up on appropriate provisions, I decided I would record the stay-at-home experience in a series of daily blog posts, prose, not poetry. At that point, self-isolation seemed novel, and so I wanted to offer a window into what one might expect. If you’re interested, go to sallyashton.com to find a few snapshots from my perspective and situation. However, when we finished the initial two week stay-at-home period, and statewide orders were extended an additional month, I found myself running out of imagination. Out of poetry. Out of sync. Out of words.
So I’m more than relieved that we have the fine words of this Spring 2020 issue’s poets to offer you at this time, words written well before the virus struck and the world shifted, before we were familiar with the words flatten the curve and social distancing. Before so many around the world fell ill. Before too many lost their lives.
I am grateful for their poems at a time of my own wordlessness. I’m grateful for Sandy Ostrau’s images that remind us of wide open fields and expansive oceans, comfortable and familiar gatherings, of color, and light and life. Not that far away. And I’m grateful for the support of our fantastic editorial team here at DMQ Review, whose energy and generosity keep all the wheels turning . . . please welcome our latest addition, Betsy Johnson. And lastly not leastly, we are grateful for you our readers and contributors. May you find some words here that ring true.
And please, stay home ~ stay safe ~ find your words, and use them. 'Til we meet again.
from the Ether,
Sally Ashton
Editor in Chief