Dear readers,
I am really sorry for a late issue. Umbel & Panicle is run by the passion and love for the craft as well as editors and writers who are also flesh-and-blood beings with their own lives. Any tardiness from our part is due to Life and its many diverse changes. Like a tree, changes branch out and often cause a fair bit of navigation. Computer crashes, overseas travel, personal life changes...
And like a tree, we are grateful for the many connections and links in our support networks. We wouldn't be here without them.
Our poems and photography speak of such connections and networks too. And also of the internal branches without ourselves. How we connect to the world, how we reach out. I keep thinking about crown shyness, how canopies of trees would never touch, but leave a gap of sun and air. And yet, in the process, the trees create a beautiful picture. They are themselves, but still in touch with the others in their environment.
From Linda M. Crate's deeply moving 'changing history' to Michelle Li's stunning 'Rare Ice', we get a full range of what branches mean to our poets and artists. Lenora cole's aching beautiful 'Eucalyptus' is filled with nature and the reminder to breathe. Melaina Leung's 'In Life' is a brief but powerful poem of love and synchronicity.
You are in for a treat.
Joyce, Editor-in-Chief
I am really sorry for a late issue. Umbel & Panicle is run by the passion and love for the craft as well as editors and writers who are also flesh-and-blood beings with their own lives. Any tardiness from our part is due to Life and its many diverse changes. Like a tree, changes branch out and often cause a fair bit of navigation. Computer crashes, overseas travel, personal life changes...
And like a tree, we are grateful for the many connections and links in our support networks. We wouldn't be here without them.
Our poems and photography speak of such connections and networks too. And also of the internal branches without ourselves. How we connect to the world, how we reach out. I keep thinking about crown shyness, how canopies of trees would never touch, but leave a gap of sun and air. And yet, in the process, the trees create a beautiful picture. They are themselves, but still in touch with the others in their environment.
From Linda M. Crate's deeply moving 'changing history' to Michelle Li's stunning 'Rare Ice', we get a full range of what branches mean to our poets and artists. Lenora cole's aching beautiful 'Eucalyptus' is filled with nature and the reminder to breathe. Melaina Leung's 'In Life' is a brief but powerful poem of love and synchronicity.
You are in for a treat.
Joyce, Editor-in-Chief
