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Like many who love poetry, I
remember the moment I was hooked.
I blame the Book of the Month Club. I received a book I didn’t order because I failed to
send in the card. It was
some kind of anthology—I’ve somehow managed to lose the book in the
interim. It contained a poem
by Alice Walker called “Goodnight, Willie Lee, I’ll See You in the
Morning”. Maybe you know it. It’s very short---If you take a
deep breath you can just about get it all out. And yet, brief as it is, it conjures up a
wonderful and touching image, hints at a backstory, ends with just the
right touch of spiritual mystery. (It hit me much the same way another
obsession-triggering event from around that same time. I listened to a recording of the
John Coltrane Quartet doing “My Favorite Things” and couldn’t believe it
was made by mortal men. I wept
as I heard it and that weeping continues somewhere in me.) So, that encounter with Walker’s
little poem meant much to me and I have since had a special love for good
short poetry. I love haiku, my
refusal to accept it on these pages notwithstanding.
Right
Hand Pointing
has always been about short pieces.
For this issue, I abandoned the traditional line limit approach and
imposed a 50-word limit. Our
authors have risen to the occasion.
(So much so, that I’m thinking of doing an under-20-words
issue.) You’ll see work by
regular contributors as well as authors publishing here for the first
time. I’m really pleased with
it and hope you enjoy it.
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