Introduction
In Issue 13 of Young Ravens Literary Review, we ask ourselves, how can we become new humans? 2020 has thrust the world into a reckoning of who we are as a society and a species. We are propelled to delve deep into our impact on the planet, and each other. Explore the multifaceted musings of author and artist as they dive into the dreams of humanity:
“An urgent solitude propels me ahead” (Donna Puccianni)
“How did I become less human than you anticipated?” (Marie C Lecrivain)
“The quivering echo of myself” (Donna Pucciani)
“My error was thinking I knew more than the whole.” (Melanie Cox)
“We take what we need, and fret over what’s left behind.” (Marie C Lecrivain)
“I quit believing in thunder gods and the patron saint of the impossible
after the death of the last bee.” (Michael Brockley)
“These angels have no further input./ They’re done with us.” (Don Thompson)
“Everyone I have loved is a shadow now” (George R. Kramer)
“Our only hope is—phosphorescence.” (Terri Glass)
“To bake mercy into the staff of life” (Vern Fein)
“What becomes of a goddess/ and her children of hunger?” (Meg Smith)
“I keep looking in to wonder/ What anyone would make of me now.” (Shannon Cuthbert)
“We watch toward/what is up there as it searches down to us.” (Laurinda Lind)
“More than half the night I am questioning, sometimes singing—”(August Smith)
“When civilization was coral reefs and clouds” (John Raffetto)
“While whispering hey hey hey I’m a beautiful world” (Theric Jepson)
“We’re just beginning to learn so much about fungus” (Dayna Patterson)
“ . . . We’re not alone. Hello.” (Gordon Kippola)
“This is why we need each other:/ too much world to taste
for one flash of mouth” (JBMulligan)
"It occurred to me with the unlearned certainty of dream knowledge—/ The world outside has changed!” (August Smith)
“The thrum of solutions, the slate of reforms,
Piggyback on fractals of realisation.” (Preeth Ganapathy)
“Drown & purify. Noun & verb.” (Gordon Kippola)
“Understand me with no need for words” (Jennifer Marie Brissett)
“This legacy I leave to someone else.” (Anne Whitehouse)
“An urgent solitude propels me ahead” (Donna Puccianni)
“How did I become less human than you anticipated?” (Marie C Lecrivain)
“The quivering echo of myself” (Donna Pucciani)
“My error was thinking I knew more than the whole.” (Melanie Cox)
“We take what we need, and fret over what’s left behind.” (Marie C Lecrivain)
“I quit believing in thunder gods and the patron saint of the impossible
after the death of the last bee.” (Michael Brockley)
“These angels have no further input./ They’re done with us.” (Don Thompson)
“Everyone I have loved is a shadow now” (George R. Kramer)
“Our only hope is—phosphorescence.” (Terri Glass)
“To bake mercy into the staff of life” (Vern Fein)
“What becomes of a goddess/ and her children of hunger?” (Meg Smith)
“I keep looking in to wonder/ What anyone would make of me now.” (Shannon Cuthbert)
“We watch toward/what is up there as it searches down to us.” (Laurinda Lind)
“More than half the night I am questioning, sometimes singing—”(August Smith)
“When civilization was coral reefs and clouds” (John Raffetto)
“While whispering hey hey hey I’m a beautiful world” (Theric Jepson)
“We’re just beginning to learn so much about fungus” (Dayna Patterson)
“ . . . We’re not alone. Hello.” (Gordon Kippola)
“This is why we need each other:/ too much world to taste
for one flash of mouth” (JBMulligan)
"It occurred to me with the unlearned certainty of dream knowledge—/ The world outside has changed!” (August Smith)
“The thrum of solutions, the slate of reforms,
Piggyback on fractals of realisation.” (Preeth Ganapathy)
“Drown & purify. Noun & verb.” (Gordon Kippola)
“Understand me with no need for words” (Jennifer Marie Brissett)
“This legacy I leave to someone else.” (Anne Whitehouse)