Emerge Literary Journal: 2020, Issue 14

Editor’s Note

This is our third issue after a long hiatus and my third issue as Managing Editor. Do I know what I’m doing? No. I am still learning my role and to trust my own instincts as a writer and editor. I understand the anguish writers face waiting for a rejection or the joy of receiving an acceptance. We thank our contributors for trusting us with their hard work and dedication to the craft. We don’t take submissions lightly and we will always respect the work. In the following issue, you will cry, maybe laugh a bit, and understand the human connection we are all striving towards.

Be Well. Write Well. Read Well.

Damon

Poetry

“Chickadee,” Steve Merino

“Stepping Sequentially Through Time,” Elizabeth Mathes

“shamayim” & “catherine of siena,” Madison Zehmer

“Growing Through the Sidewalk,” Gerry Stewart

“Hyperbole,” Skye Wilson

“Measurement,” Amanda McLeod

“Last Night I Dreamed You,” Rich Larson

“Airplane Familiarity,” Julianna May

“Sonnet of Jeff Buckley’s ‘Mojo Pin’,” Sophia Bruce

“We Walk Away Like Nothing” & “River Streams,” Shome Dasgupta

“A portrait from before you fell in & out of love” & “Flight,” Noreen Ocampo

“Dodona,” Elizabeth Bluth

“Practice Room,” Ivy Aloa Robb

“If Life Means Life Means Life Means Life // Voluntary Apnea,” Kanika Ahuja

“West Aster Drive,” Nymphish

“Quarantine Excursion,” Maria S. Picone

“Canada” & “Love Note,” Farley Egan Green

“That O’Keefe on the Wall,” Lynn Finger

Esperanza Corner

“Two Brothers,” Hannah Storm (Trigger Warning – Sexual Assault)

“The Evening News,” Lindsey Heatherly (Trigger Warning – Suicidal Ideation)

“Routine,” Lindsey Heatherly

“Observations,” SM Colgan (Trigger Warning – Self-Harm)

“Affliction,” SM Colgan (Trigger Warning – Self-Harm)

ELJ believes that #mentalillnessawareness and #endingthestigma are of paramount importance. We believe in the necessity of sharing our mental illness and trauma stories to facilitate writing through illness and create broader awareness. We’ve created this corner to allow writers to not only share their stories but to be home to those who share in their experiences.