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Love calls us in the most astonishing and exciting ways. Often, the pull of love catches us by surprise, from the simplest act to the most wildly dramatic delirium, and we can't help but fall under its intoxicating spell.
A call was sent out for poetry and short stories where love appears and develops in unexpected ways. We received more than 250 submissions. In the morning, I would wake up and run over to my computer to see what surprise treasures had arrived. E-mails came from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Canada, and the Czech Republic. We also heard from the U.S., including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Redondo Beach, Santa Fe, and locations from New York to Maine. The contributors ran the gamut from psychoanalysts to new as well as accomplished poets and writers.
Through the creative expressions I've selected, I seek to capture the enduring facets of love. The diverse writings examine the ecstatic exuberance and delight of pure love, the sensual desire and aching for erotic love, and the exhilaration of finding a new chance at love. They explore long-distance love letters carried through e-mail across continents, playful love in a wheelbarrow, cross-species love between a primate and a winged creature that illuminates the universality of love, and how familiar love that mellows through the years can be rekindled with a simple, small act of kindness. There is a contribution from a therapist who helps a couple fall back in love, and a new translation of an ancient poem written by Greek poetess Sappho in 600 B.C.E.