I don't consciously choose an equal number of works by female and male writers, and I can't make an even third with nonbinary or LGBTQ because I don't receive that much, but I've noticed that each issue of Star 82 Review is otherwise gender-balanced. The door is open. For art, too. For everyone.

Okay, so that's not a riddle. The characters in a flash story don't have much time to interact, but interact they must if we are to care about them. Flash fictions don't explain things to us, they suggest; they offer up some little gifts for us to arrange in our minds and explore. Usually, they comment on the human condition, or nature,  a philosophical, political, or personal issue. Often, the story will start one place and end at another delightfully surprising, connected, yet creative place. Ultimately, the reader must make what I call "little leaps of inference" at the end. The concluding sentence leaves open some possibilities, ironies, and/or a particular emotion. Open is the key word. As a reader, I want to feel awe, and that the ending wasn't obvious. As a reader, I want something that lingers: a story I might keep thinking about, turning it over and over, perhaps even finding new meanings in it. The ending is a door that leads outward. A joke ha...

Here is the customary poem I create from either the first two or last two words from each written piece in the upcoming issue, due in a few weeks. final glance making it my camera just outside of friends and expression It spat their heads through clouds Everybody in far - away the ground stays stuck tidal shifts To guarantee only disappointment and time the release I read I agreed this much we left The absence bus fare and waiting

The first proof for summer issue 7.2 has been ordered, and I'll be working on web pages for a June release. Watch this space for the poem created from either the first two or last two words from all the written works in Star 82 Review Issue 7.2. Meanwhile, you can read the new print version of  Star 82 Review Pocket Poems anthology , or check it out online first , and I'm reading and viewing, selecting for fall 7.3, so keep the submissions rolling in!

To celebrate six years of Star 82 Review and inspired by National Poetry Month, I’ve gleaned 100 poems from past issues plus 25 black-and-white artworks and recombined them into a new anthology: Star 82 Review Pocket Poems. The content is fully linked online, and the thick pocket-sized book (4.25” x 6.75”) is now available in print through Lulu.com. Online: http://www.star82review/2019-pocket/contents.html Print: http://www.lulu.com/shop/alisa-golden/star-82-review-pocket-poems/paperback/product-24098301.html