Dear Editors, 

I’d like to start before anything else by thanking you for editing Stripes. You may or may not recognize my name from some of the submissions, but I’m gracious for what you do. It allows many young people to challenge themselves or to show their skills off. And I’m grateful that you’re here to present it all to the world, or at least for our small community to see. My favorite poem from the Winter issue was “Covid Calendar” by Isabella Sanchez.

It was a heartfelt poem right off the bat, I could tell. It didn’t have a rhyme scheme, sure, and perhaps was a bit choppy at times, but that fact that it was heartfelt was what won me over. You could see that the poet recalled each month for like scripture and that some months were more difficult and surreal than others.  It felt human, and natural, and unforced. The idea is unique as well, to create a poem each month, and detail what happened to her, or to the world and to the people around us. That’s what captivated me as well. That it wasn’t just her in those months, she detailed everything and used imagery to only make her poems even more surreal. Just like the months of 2020, her poems taught lessons, or better yet, reminded us of the lessons of each month and life as whole. But her poems ended abruptly, and 2020 is now over so I wonder if she had written the poems for the months now, would there have been a greater take away she’d leave us with? 

To be able to see from another person’s point of view is what’s beautiful about poems like these. It helps you break out of your boxed in world, and realize everyone’s going through the same troubles as you. Editor, I do not know what your favorite from this year’s selection would be but I thought you’d appreciate seeing that your editing provides people with a place to gather their ideas and thoughts and share with the world. 

Thanks again, 

Louis Meagher-Di Ello 

 

LETTER TO THE EDITORS
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