From the Editor’s Desk
The idiom “Hope springs eternal” comes to mind when I think about the landscape of our
world. It feels to me in a lot of ways that hope is the only thing holding back the darkness
that has been relentless in an on going struggle like Syria, or has suddenly found purchase
to rise in places we did not expect, like several elections of note. In some places hope has
clearly won the day and in many others it is a shifting line where sometimes simply defining
what one is truly hoping for can be difficult to
remember. There are so many hoping for
peace, for good health and health care, for
equal standing in the eyes of all people, for a
turn of the tide, or if nothing else a cessation
of the tide in order to breath and prepare again
for the struggle. But I also asked myself what is
hope? Is it just another way of saying faith, or
another word to use when things seem just too
big for any single person to affect. Some might
see it as a pipe dream taken up by those
unwilling to truly work for a goal or a cause and
still others may describe it as the fuel for that
work to make a change for the better. Hope
holds no allegiances for both sides of any
conflict surely hopes to come out on top. Hope
can arrive an unexpected gift or can be lost
with little rhyme or reason. Hope is the
universal mistress and it would be wrong to
judge her while at the same time courting her.
Her ethereal nature is fueled by a certain
amount of trust and belief and she is made
whole when things have come to fruition. So in
this issue we touch upon ‘hope’ in a few ways;
from the introspective thoughts of one of our
Photo by D!gby
regular contributors in “Seeds of Hope” to
poetry from our Poet Laureate. Aspects of
hope exists in these pages if only a glimmer
along the edges as it is known to do at times in our everyday lives.
I also wanted to take this time to welcome Marcus Brown who has joined The Cone
as our first Assistant Editor. I look forward to Marcus’ contributions and the energy he will
bring to the publication as we continue to grow and build a better magazine. As always you
will find a plethora of photographs to capture your attention, along with engaging
interviews and a bit of modern Pulp Fiction. In closing the one thing I can say with any
certainty is that we at The Cone and ProSeed Books hope you enjoy this issue and come
back for more.
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THE CONE - ISSUE #12 - 2017