Filling Space, Finding Reasons - Editor's Note Over the last several months, I have often found myself up late, way past my bedtime, mouth agape, staring blindly at the tv, hoping that the next program would have all the answers. I never found any. And I doubt that I was alone. One of the things I did hear a lot is that things have changed. Good. And people are asking, ‘when will we be back to normal?’ Look: normal is fast food, traffic, disposable everything. Normal is going to work, dropping bombs, grinding up the world. Tonight I’m up late again, but pounding away on this key-board, and realizing that in the last couple of months I have learned more than I ever expected about art, politics, people, control. And I’ve learned it all working on what you now hold in your hands. What I found is that making this journal is not getting back to life as usual. It’s not shopping, it’s not a flag decal, it’s more…. It’s taking control and going beyond the everyday to do something out of the ordinary. In the hours I spend working on this, all the fear and anxiety from every draconian decree and terror warning just melts away. I have never felt more positive and in control. And I suspect that all of our contributors might agree. Art frees you. Just simply write, poetry, anything, and you will start answering all of your own questions. It doesn’t have to mean anything, it just has to be done. What excites me most is the feeling that if we all started doing this, anything might happen. I have.... Now it’s your turn. Just the facts....This issue marks a few changes. One that avid readers will surely note is that we have done away with our somewhat arbitrary and confusing dating and numbering system. Volumes and numbers, seasons and years were frankly a bit too serious and stuffy and I much prefer the simple, concise #5. It feels like comic books. Next will be #6; see how easy that is? We have branched out a bit with our cover too, printing it on a letterpress. The difference might not be all that apparent to you, but what it means to me about the way we do things, and what that process should feel like, is enormous. It’s like a person has stamped each cover; they’re hand-crafted and personal. It’s a demonstration of investment and belief in what art is and what we are doing. Speaking of art, I can’t say enough about the quality of all of the work in here. That, more than anything, is what it’s all about. I hope you have enjoyed reading the range and variety of poetry as much as we enjoyed selecting it. Also, it wouldn’t hurt if you checked out our website, there are new things up there too; photography, spokenword, and more poetry we couldn’t fit between these simple pages. My gratitude goes out to all of the artists. peace, sachin. february 2002 madison, wi