Summer 2018
Describe for me an invisible thing. Let it be intangible, as well—also odorless, tasteless, incapable of making a sound; but give it a voice. Make it ugly beautiful; tragic and rife with hope. Drape it in shadow, ignite it with color. It should sparkle, fester, thrum and brood. Riddle me this: what is seen unseen—not by the eye, but with the mind?
If language is magic then writers are witches, magicians—dare I say it?—even gods, delivering unto us worlds beyond this one, transcending the limits of the senses and of logic, opening doors within our imagination to reveal hidden depths and yet-unrealized possibilities—all through the power of the written word.
As Editor of Riddles with Arrows, I continue to be awed by this prowess of poets and authors, evidenced by the quality of responses to our Submission Calls: the challenge being to not only feed our insatiable appetite for writing about writing, but also to capture the spirit of a given theme. Once again it is my privilege, dear reader, to share with you a collection of wonders and oddities, happiness and horrors—treasures snatched from the monster’s hoard at the end of a labyrinth at the bottom of an ocean within a realm that can only be reached by deciphering meaning spelled out by little sticks, swiggles and shapes arranged in exacting order across your computer screen.
But don’t just take my word for it. Come, let me show you what I mean.
Welcome to Riddled with Arrows 2.2, “The Invisible World”.
–>Shannon Connor Winward