Fear Did Not Yet Exist

DEAR READER,

It would be a misstep not to address the strange and uncertain times in which we live. The current pandemic has upended our lives and our educations in unprecedented, and often heartbreaking, ways. We hope to recognize this strangeness, and to present the comfort in quieter, more mundane oddities.

In this issue of RiverCraft, we leave Paradise in the pursuit of freedom, escape, knowledge, and even Bigfoot, as in the work of Jason Ferris and Madeleine Sherbondy; for idyll is beautiful, but it is idle, and true beauty is “how water tastes in the Wasteland.” Anastasia Farley observes an estranged father reuniting with his daughter and possibly stealing her car. Eneida Giboyeaux traverses a world burning to ash beneath her and discovers a child of light. Kailah Johnson writes “a sonnet for a new season, for thick sweaters & colder evenings,” for the inescapable forward march of change, and we invite you to prepare for an adventure into this wide, unknown landscape of our futures.

And yet, while many things are uncertain and confusing, we can find strangeness in the familiar, and a familiarity in the strange. So take the leap: rediscover the stars and embrace them fully, because Tabitha Gonia has found they are “neon streamers painted in primary colors.” Remember that when life is upended, we turn to art: to music and movies, to stories and poetry. Words are the most powerful and unique of all human inventions, and in this era of social distancing, we remind our readers that social distancing itself is a misnomer. While we may be separated physically, stories and words reconnect our society. We invite our readers to see this issue not just as a collection of art, but also as a testament to our humanity, and our ability to persevere in the darkest and most uncertain of times. It is vital now more than ever.

SINCERELY,

THE EDITORS