I Couldn’t Do It Without Them

A tribute to my editors on an anniversary

Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash

I don’t remember exactly which day a young Shaan Sood passed the reins of Scrittura to me (and I have zero interest in trying to determine the date), but I am almost positive it started in July, so today will be the (ersatz) date of Scrittura’s rebirthing.

Happy Canada Day, as well. I love my country, happy to be home, though we’ve definitely got work ahead of us.

To celebrate this occasion, I wanted to pay tribute to four outstanding individuals who make damned sure my life is so full of light, and make it easier at the same time. They are: the fantastically dedicated Zay Pareltheon, the incredibly intelligent, pagan romantic, Eli Snow, the vastly talented Jessica Lee McMillan, and the stellar, absolutely wonderful Viraji Ogodapola. The energies of these four have kept Scrittura alive, saving it from the ignoble and cruel death of negligence.

And they are, collectively and individually, so fucking talented it’s very nearly heartbreaking. Celebrating them on this occasion, letting them know from the bottom of my (relatively shallow) heart, I love them very dearly.

Here’s a selection of some of my favourite pieces from these incredible individuals!

Ichor — Scrittura — Medium by Eli Snow

Ski-lodge On Europa. Mind over matter | by Eli Snow | The Junction | Medium

Stargazing — Scrittura — Medium by Eli Snow

Drive the Stag Before Us. Saturday Poetry Prompt — December 5… | by Zay Pareltheon | Scrittura | Medium

Noise Beyond Reckoning — Scrittura — Medium by Zay Pareltheon

The Word is Not With Us Enough. A tardy response to a Saturday Poetry… | by Zay Pareltheon | Scrittura | Medium

Whistling Kettles. Challenged Conscience | by Viraji Ogodapola | Scrittura | Medium

Deflections. of haphazard origins | by Viraji Ogodapola | Scrittura | Medium

Io Saturnalia!. Reason to Rejoice — Saturday Poetry… | by Viraji Ogodapola | Scrittura | Medium

Flush Left, Ragged Right. Free verse | by Jessica Lee McMillan | Scrittura | May, 2021 | Medium

Passage. Free verse meditation on healing | by Jessica Lee McMillan | Scrittura | Medium

Cigarette Vignettes. A biography | by Jessica Lee McMillan | Scrittura | Medium

I couldn’t even do justice to the entire corpus that these amazing people have developed (notice I didn’t even get to saucy, witty “The Chronicles of Charon”); it’s just a drop in the bucket of so many good reads…I know you love them, too.

Let’s hear it! Take a bow, Zay, Viraji, Jessica, and Eli. I love you all very much, am so grateful for your collective presence, and have hope for years yet of working with you. Cheers!

J.D. Harms 2021