After Thoughts

The line, “No man is an island,” by John Donne from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, MEDITATION XVII speaks to the poems and stories you have just read.  Each of us contributes our own unique thread to form the tapestry we call humanity.  In the making, we touch and are woven together to form an inexplicable (from the latin, “incapable of being unraveled") bond.

To all of our contributors, we say thank you for entrusting us with your work.  Your words have allowed us to contribute towards a more compassionate understanding of what it is to be human when we touch one another.  Taking the time to support and be present for others in their time of need can only serve to elevate us all.

To our Poet in Residence, Christine Klocek-Lim, we offer a special thank you for your unwavering support of our journal since its inception over four years ago.  You have shared with us your wisdom, your experience, and your insight through your contributions to our pages and added your own voice of healing to our mission.  Your essays have served as valuable resources to all writers who seek to elevate their work.  We cherish your friendship.

To our readers, we hope you have found encouragement and enlightenment in the work we have published here and in past issues.  Please consider supporting our journal by purchasing a printed copy of this issue for your library or for a loved one or a friend.  We take pride in our attention to detail in hand-crafting each copy of the journal.  We do our own printing and feel holding an illustrated collection of poetry and prose in one's hands gives the greatest effect when one takes time to read.  Print copies of all the issues of Touch: The Journal of Healing are available through our press, The Lives You Touch Publications.  We appreciate your support.

In closing, in the future, Touch: The Journal of Healing will become a semi-annual publication.  Beginning with the next issue, the journal will appear in the spring and autumn of each year.  We believe this will allow us to devote greater attention to the themes on which each issue will focus.

Thank you again. Please join us in the spring for our next issue!

O.P.W. Fredericks, Editor

Daniel Milbo, Assistant Editor