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REMINISCENCE

the editorial

Dearest friends,

Oh, to the joy of reminiscence. So often do we, even as writers, lose ourselves in the obsession with what’s next, with what’s now, that the past becomes opaque as through stained glass at night. To reflect, and to rediscover those memories once held fresh and dear, is much like the light of dawn hitting the window and revealing the beauty hidden by the dark. This being Issue VIII, and having recently marked the third anniversary of The Madrigal, could there have been a more fitting theme for us to celebrate? Reminiscence inherently covers a range of experience, from the heights of memory and delight, to the true pang of loss - we reminisce when we don’t mean to, and often that is when it is the most achingly palpable. These poets have poured their souls onto these pages, and for that, we are endlessly grateful.

It is with fondness in our hearts and no small amount of love that we give this issue to you, our dear friends, contributors, and community, without whom The Madrigal would cease to be. Deeply personal, tragic, and wonderful in equal measure, Reminiscence celebrates all the joy, pain, and meaning that can be found in the experience of being alive, of having lived. We are never more truly human than when we share these moments together, and we hope, truly and earnestly, that this will always be a space for that togetherness of feeling. Thank you, endlessly –– now read, and remember.
 

Love, as ever,
Helen and Luke

Editors of The Madrigal

table of contents

the possibility of forgiveness by john robert grogan
1622 truth spell by chrissy stegman
for robert, paddling across smooth water by madeleine french
gleanings by laurie koensgen
a portion of our june by camila hernández
the atlantis tapes by george sandifer-smith
not knowing by fionn andrews
hare & hand by lois hambleton
visiting old bends by angela arnold
memory tray by bernard pearson
oisín in tír na nÓg by kathryn boudouris
he was sick by jerrod laber
ten days to my father's death by sarah das gupta
basketball days by eric colburn
now it's been two years by gareth writer-davies
vigil by naomi madlock
sonnet 50: umbria in autumn by marc f. weigand
in among the ruins, love by denise o'hagan
they built a 'boots' upon our love by jacob ray-halliday
remnants by sarah o'grady
boyhood by paul o. jenkins
shark heart by aoife-marie buckley
xiii requiem by susan zegarsky
the world's loneliest sheep by phoebe kalid
after the cold moon by declan coles
carrying (for wren) by jennifer dumbelton
in the capuchin crypt by ricia kearns
i rarely show up for funerals by belinda rimmer
not quite a graveyard elegy by patrick wright
i could not by m. speaker
eurydice, at the end [ovid x: 1-85] by helen jenks

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