The gerund moving and the infinitive to move have different connotations. Moving conjures a range of pathos, from how-exciting-it-is-to-be-getting-out-of-here! or to-someplace-new! to eviction to the labor-intensive process of moving. Getting rid of one’s stuff? Sometimes easy, sometimes painful. Of course, there is also moving, something we do every day. We are humans; humans move, often involuntarily. To move seems more vital, alive, intentional. A person is making a choice to get someplace, and the implication is that he/she/they chose to move to do something.  

The poems of the fall issue are all moving, in the mind or on foot, and each of them unpack boxes. They are moving with intention and craft in mind. Cate McGowan kicks off the poetry selections with “Falling is the Deadest Thing” and “Cuts”; Megan Lim follows with “Estrogen Gives and Estrogen Takes,” and Peter Grandbois concludes with “There’s no answer to the way the body remembers.” There is a reclaiming happening in these poems, sometimes a painful one, and sometimes, from matter as dense as bone, a vanishing. As my family is moving to Nashville and soon, we are paring down, letting go, and throwing our arms around the lights of Music City, seen from five hours away. 

I was affected and impressed by the quality of the poems in the fall issue, as was the editorial team at Citron. Thank you to Cate McGowan, Megan Lim, and Peter Grandbois for honoring us with your work. Thank you to everyone who has submitted poetry, past and present. The Citron Review is not a journal without you. May you move with intention in autumn.

Best,

Eric Steineger
Senior Poetry Editor
Editor of Zest
The Citron Review