Volume 45, Issue 3
Summer 2022

Star*Line 45.3 cover
Cover: Gate of the Gods with Bird of Paradise
© I. Niemand Amalgamated
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Wyrms & Wormholes

freedom is where poetry lives

It is frightening to live in a time when our freedoms are threatened. But it is important to remember that our rights and freedoms are never set in stone, and that they can be gained, revoked, and regained. Culture is always in flux and there are always those who would wish to exploit rather than see justice and individual freedom flourish. While those who would impose their beliefs and ideas unto others may at times succeed, there is a freedom that they can never take away, freedom of thought. This freedom is where poetry lives. Where our words can manifest entire worlds and universes in the mind, and actuate real change in meatspace. Words are that powerful. Language is a weapon, and we must choose to wield it for positive change. I do not say this to suggest that you must write political poetry, but rather to insinuate that poetry is a conversation. One in which feelings can be shared, empathy learned, and experiences transferred from one mind to another. We learn about ourselves and each other through these stories. Poetry is that powerful.

Never forget that they can’t take our freedom of thought away, and that we can flex our strength by using our craft against the repression of ideas. We can use our words to show the world what we think, our visions of a better world, and to share each other’s feelings. We can use our words to write the powers that be and hold them accountable. We can use our words to alter perceptions. We can use our words to change the world, and indeed to create new ones. We can use our words to write history. We can use our words to educate. Your poetry is powerful and your words are strong. Never forget that freedom of the mind is yours and cannot be taken away. Your poetry is power.

And congratulations to this year’s Rhysling winners, and the Dwarf Stars and Elgin nominees!

—Jean-Paul L. Garnier, Star*Line Editor


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Star*Line Staff:

Editor: Jean-Paul L. Garnier
Layout: F. J. Bergmann
Production Manager: F. J. Bergmann
Mailing: F. J. Bergmann

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Table of Contents

Departments

  • Wyrms & Wormholes * Jean-Paul Garnier
  • SFPA Announcements
  • President’s Message * Bryan Thao Worra
  • From the Small Press * Herb Kauderer, David C. Kopaska-Merkel, John Reinhart, Lisa Timpf
  • Stealth SF * That Haiku That You Do * Denise Dumars
  • SpecPo Publishing * Interview with David C. Kopaska-Merkel * Jean-Paul Garnier
  • Xenopoetry * Déserteuses (Deserters) *
    Charles Cros, translated by F. J. Bergmann

Poetry

  • The Epidemic of Shrink-Ray-Gun Violence … * Pedro Iniguez
  • [collecting scrap metal] * Matthew
    Wilson
  • Remembrance * Ian Willey
  • [still fixed on Kepler-24] * Nick Hoffman
  • Coronation * Marisca Pichette
  • Ordinary Witches * Meg Smith
  • The Long Big Quiet * Mary Soon Lee
  • Mare Serenitatis * Oz Hardwick
  • Idles of the Closet Monster * Ken Poyner
  • Positively Love it Here * Lauren McBride
  • [reptilian takeover] * LeRoy Gorman
  • Pas de Trois * Gerri Leen
  • T-Rex Detective * Randall Andrews
  • Offerings to a Voiceless Star * Jean-Louis Trudel
  • Abandoned Sun * Eva Papasoulioti
  • [tombstone] * Greg Schwartz
  • Castaway * Shelly Jones
  • To Become the Elf Queen’s Bride * Avra Margariti
  • [dream recording] * Tyler McIntosh
  • Planet Seeds * Garrett Carroll
  • [Visitor arrives] * DJ Tyrer
  • The Adaptation of the Species * Daniel Bourne
  • [Leafy alien] * Herb Kauderer
  • A Knight Retires * Mary Soon Lee
  • Nekroevolution * Yuliia Vereta
  • The Gods Bleed * Goran Lowie
  • horsegirl * Jordan Hirsch
  • Meanwhile, in this created corner * Richard Magahiz
  • A Postcard for Count Dracula * William Shaw
  • [rogue winds] * Lauren McBride
  • The Ghostly Scarecrow of Chiang Rui * Richard Stevenson
  • His Blushing Bride * Gretchen Tessmer
  • Evolution * Donna Glee Williams
  • Rhonda * Gerri Leen
  • [Black cat, golden eyes] * Adele Gardner
  • [felines seize big tech] * Gary Davis
  • [pet cat] * Matthew Wilson
  • Chicago 2033: Big Brother versus the Tiny Alien Who Lives on Sandra * Alicia Hilton
  • Ogre Series * Akua Lezli Hope
  • [a UFO crash] * Gabriel Smithwilson
  • Weather Forecast * John C. Mannone
  • [another birthday] * John Hawkhead
  • One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-Nine Years after the Apocalypse * Gabriel Meek
  • The Voyage to Mars and Onwards (for Two Voices) * Melanie A. Rawls
  • [ramscoop] * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • [the last Martians] * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • [Martian petroglyphs] * Joshua St. Claire
  • [Martian Spaceways] * Stephen C. Curro
  • Black Ice, Cracked Dreams * WC Roberts
  • Winning Chess Brilliancies for the 21st Century * Richard Magahiz
  • On A Clear Day * Alan Ira Gordon
  • [on fire in orbit] * Lauren McBride
  • The Comedown * Jennifer Crow
  • Doing Her Part to Combat Sexism in the Sciences * Beth Cato
  • Syph * Marisca Pichette
  • The Coral Wreck * Jennifer Crow
  • The Boatman Statue * Daniel Ausema
  • [flying forward in time] * Lauren McBride
  • [time jump to Noah’s era] * Lisa Timpf
  • March Hag * Jeanette Gibson
  • [Veniforming] * David C. Kopaska-Merkel
  • And To and By * Ai Jiang
  • Alien Astrology * Mary Soon Lee
  • [orbital ring] * Jonathan Roman
  • Mummies * H. Russell Smith
  • Oh Children * Kendall Evans
  • Nest of the Eye-Thief * Jean-Marie Romana
  • every dead man trades his body for dust * Chukwuma Eke Pacella Chioma
  • Mother, Grandmother, God * Beth Cato
  • Interstellar Pirate * Kendall Evans
  • Brother * Helena Pantsis
  • [Eating my Captain’s Log] * Francene Kaplan
  • Remembering Forward * Deborah L. Davitt
  • [the wake dims back …] * Robin Wyatt Dunn
  • The End of the World Happens Suddenly, and on a Continual Basis * Bobby Parrott
  • my bones thirst * Dennis Maulsby
  • States of Antimatter * Brian Garrison
  • [house of mirrors] * Barun Saha

Art

  • Holding the Rose * R. Mac Jones
  • Reclaimed Outpost * Austin Hart

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