Here we are, stuck at home, right in the middle of the summer reading season. Let’s make the most of our quarantine by picking up the August issue of rez. We have so much to deal with, so it’s nice to have the best writers we know of interpreting all of it - - letting us know how it feels. Rakshowes sets the tone for the entire issue with Torrent Cries, which is a gusher of emotions, a remarkable work. Family looms large, we yearn to be close to those closest to us. Shyla the Super Gecko captures that in Sometimes, Just Sometimes. If there’s a silver lining to missing our friends and family, we get to probe deeper into the futuristic mindset of Art Blue, who may for all we know have taken control of rez (we’re looking into it). George: Air on You is his answer to questions we’re still pondering. Wittgenstein was right (ask Art). RoseDrop Rust, who has delighted us over the years with his powerful poetry, takes a turn at essay writing with In Our Lives, a sober examination of race relations. Hopefully, we’ll be reading more of Rusty’s essays in the near future. Consuela Hypatia Caldwell and Persephone Phoenix are back to back in this issue, with Piano Bar Blues and Monsters, respectively. Both great talents, it’s wonderful to be able to publish them side by side. Cat Boccaccio is up to her usual micro-fiction tricks, this time with The Accident, which tells how a single incident can change lives completely. Dearstluv Writer asks the very important question “What’s normal anymore?” in Back to Typical, a penetrating poem trying to make sense of the pandemic. Merope Madrigal shares a deeply personal poem on the same topic: loss in the age of Covid. Amy Inawe closes out this month’s offering with As the World Boils and Bends, a haunting poem about a world gone mad. Enjoy the issue and stay safe and sound.
