This is a different kind of anthology. One bound together solely by the descanso, regardless of the genre or form of the piece. The poetry, flash fiction, essays, and short stories contained here are as varied as the theme they represent. From San Francisco to New Zealand to Greece, from a soldier saying goodbye to her helicopter to a musician in small town Texas whose life has just begun, to a woman taking supplies to the Water Protectors at Standing Rock, these pieces reflect their authors’ unique takes on themes of grief and love and sudden redirection. – Susannah Carlson, Editor – Wulf Losee, Poetry Editor Featuring Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Stories, and Essays By: Jesse Sensibar, Terence Kuch, Cate McGowan, Armine Mortimer, Tyson West, Richard King Perkins II, Terresa Cooper Haskew, D. Dina Friedman, Frank Russo, Amber Colleen Hart, Brian Morgan, Ivan Faute, Ellaraine Lockie, Kurt Newton, Jon Black, Lita Kurth, C.A. Cole, Kevin Wetmore,Woody Woodger,Diana Brown, Jonathan Ochoco, Teressa Rose Ezell, Nick Bouchard, Fred Zackel, Dave Holt, Nicole Scherer, Nancy Brewka-Clark, Jack Mackey, John Z. Guzlowski, Scot Friesen, Pamela Ahlen, Catherine A. Lee, Mary Silwance, Hal Ackerman, Jackie Davis Martin, Karen Bovenmyer Cate McGowan writes fiction, poetry, and essays that lean into threshold moments and the strange beauty threaded through ordinary life. Her recent books include Sacrificial Steel (Driftwood Press, 2025), winner of the Driftwood Editors' Pick Poetry Prize, and Writing Is Revision (Brill, 2025). Her earlier work includes the novel These Lowly Objects (Gold Wake Press) and the story collection True Places Never Are , winner of the Moon City Press Short Fiction Award and a finalist for the Lascaux Prize. Her shorter pieces have appeared in Flash Fiction International (Norton), Glimmer Train , North American Review , Shenandoah , SmokeLong Quarterly , Tahoma Literary Review , Trampset , Citron Review , Stonecoast Review , Chestnut Review , and Crab Orchard Review . McGowan—affectionately called "McG" by her students—holds an M.F.A., a Ph.D., and a recent M.A. from Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Florida with her husband and a willful assortment of pets; she misses her home state of Georgia.