Summer in Nashville is hot, and I feel that, wherever you are, readers, it’s probably hot there
as well. May you keep cool this summer and enjoy good reading, too. In Nashville, the heat
hangs still and lasts, so my daughter and I go the pool every chance we get. Occasionally,
there’s some downtime indoors, which might mean (for me) a return to a book or a lit journal.
I just finished Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle, and it was amazing. Next up: my friend
Melanie McGee Bianchi’s debut collection The Ballad of Cherrystoke & Other Stories. I hope
that whatever you are reading soothes and inspires. And thank you for reading Citron’s many,
many inspired selections. We flourish because of your interest and support.

The poetry picks for the summer issue rouse us to a keener state of awareness and beauty.
Reading them, I noticed that many, if not all of them, explore identity—in a way that is in touch
with the self, with the world, and with the nuances of poetics that turn words into experiences.
We hope you enjoy the poems. Thank you to the featured poets this issue and for all submitters,
past and present.

Kristin Entler’s “A Tickle in Her Throat”
Christopher Ankney’s “Surrender”
Annette Sisson’s “Eating Chå Cá Lã Vong in Texarkana”
Deborah Liepziger’s “Whelk”
Gunilla Theander Kester’s “The Long and the Short Vowels”
Jose Hernandez Diaz’s “Monster”

With love,

Eric Steineger
Senior Poetry Editor
Editor of Zest
The Citron Review