I’d like to start this editorial, as usual, by thanking my assistants - Dan, David and Sarah - for all of their hard work and much needed help in putting this issue out. I couldn’t possibly express in a manner brief enough to grace this page all the effort and time that these three offer to seeing that Lily reaches its readers in the best form possible. Even on holiday weekends, they’re there to proofread and perfect and offer their wealth of experience, opinions and enthusiasm for this publication. Thanks again and again to the three of you..

Speaking of a wealth of experience, our cup overflows this month with the interviews of two extremely talented poets, Ruth Daigon and Thylias Moss. Both of these women have shared not only their own unique styles - the poems “Invocation,” “On the Brink” and “Mouthing Secrets” from Daigon, and “Heads Wrapped in Flowers”, “Postscript Culture of Head Wraps” and “The Warmth of Hot Chocolate” from Moss - but also their views on the ever-changing world of poetry and its impact on them as writers. Being interviewed via e-mail is certainly not the easiest way to have a conversation, and yet the dedication of these two writers comes through with every word they’ve offered. I find there is much to learn from those words and am thankful to both of them for their participation.

Featured photographers for the pages of our interviewed poets this month are Don Paulson and Vinay. If ever a person could make a flower into so much more than a flower, it’s Paulson. His eye for the unusual side of beauty is revealed in his mini fireworks, dew drops (each one wearing its own reflected daisy), and a gladiola  blossom so warm and soft you can almost climb into it and roll around there on the silk of the petals. Vinay also has an eye for beauty and a sense of adventure apparent in each of his images. From a walk on the beach, to the lighthouse, to the forest depths, each photo is a splendid journey of contemplation. 

One of Lily’s first contributors, Michelle Cameron, returns this month with her poem, "Cartoon Physics, Part 2," a haunting look at the present reality of a generation raised on Cocoa Puffs and cartoons. The page features the first of photographer Donnali Peters' offerings for the month, “One Lost Sole.”

Alyson Dayus is back for June, briefly and powerfully introducing us to the delicate and cruel "Felicity." French photographer, Marc Pelissier, provides intense eyes in an image from a festival in Venice.

Barbara Deming takes us on a mysterious and fast paced adventure with her short story, “Lion Eyes”. A surreal church scene, offered by Sirrus Poe, stands as the image for this page.

In the first of two poems featured this month by Nicole Cartwright Denison, she speaks in turning, twisting pictures of “The Urgency of Speaking.” Poe’s photo, “Hands”, shows some urgent turning and twisting of its own. In a drastic change of pace, Denison’s second piece, “Clinch Avenue, Knoxville, April 1994”, is a focused glimpse into live in a university town, where “everybody feels smart.” Dianna Crumpler’s photography returns to the pages of Lily this month, starting with a sunset.

AnnMarie Eldon offers rich language and a garden of deep thoughts with her three poems, “work’s end”, “evening - a clarity”, and “insides.” Photographer Charlie Mitchell, also with three works in June’s issue, captures a magnificent moment when the sun bursts through the trees. Crumpler offers a serene view of Nova Scotia, and newcomer Maciek Dakowicz - the same photographer who captured the image of an adorable Cambodian boy by the river - shows us a view from a virtual ghost town, Hue, in VietNam.

Anne Fraser spins beauty of cobwebs in her first poem of the issue, “The Highest Point,” accompanied by Poe’s blue spider. In her second poem, “In the Days Before”, Fraser invites us on a journey of recollection and longing, with Mitchell’s sepia-toned gate at the start of the trip.

James Keane - who, as a sidenote, is one of the most dedicated, hard-working writers I have ever met - takes us on an intimate, aching journey of his own - that of losing his father, in "What Comes Next." Mitchell’s gloomy shot of Amsterdam sets the tone of the page early.

Carolyn Mahdi, in her Lily debut, offers up plenty of rich language and a solemn scene that is “hung on nothing.” Peters, whose photos this month come from a recent trip to Florida, provides an image of a green umbrella for the page.

Peter Roberts, in his short fiction piece “Nightmare With Faces”, uses powerful language to pull us into the scene of a haunting dream. Pelissier gives an image of more faces from the Venice festival, with a line of people costumed and masked.

Brittney Schoonebeek offers two poems of breathless beauty and incredible settings with “Wind”, nestled beside Peter’s Keywest sunset, and “After Midnight in a Strange City”, with Dakowicz’s Hong Kong night shot.

Sarah Sloat returns this month with two poems. “From the Cage” is a fabulous work of the mysterious and beautiful art of love, while “Fireman’s Carry” shows the depths of a stepfather’s commitment to a child. Pelissier gives a stunning image of a tiger hidden in green and Crumpler’s waterlilies dance upon the surface.

Kathleen Vibbert closes the issue with the glorious qualities of “Becca”, offered alongside the alluring tattooed dancer by Pelissier.

The classified page premieres this month  and was - as most premiers are - a crash course in design and delivery.  More than that though, the classifieds signal the next step in Lily’s evolution: trying to take this publication into the arena of publications that are invested in, supported financially and, in turn, capable of offering the same investment and support to their contributors. We’re not there yet, but hopefully we will be. Soon. 

Thanks, as always, to all who sent their submissions in - both the ones whose names and labors made the pages of June and the ones who didn’t. You are all vital, unique and without you, there would be no Lily. So please keep the submissions coming and have a wonderful start to summer.

Til next time.