Lately, I’ve been thinking about love songs. I’m attracted to them as a form, and moreover, to the idea of what they can teach us, and what we can learn from looking for the love song in a particular story or poem or in the world around us. I think about how difficult a form I’ve found them to be in my own work, especially the kinds which which also chase the complicated and unresolved of love: what we learn not only from tenderness, but also yearning, or even grief. During our reading period for Folk, two stories passed my desk which captured me and to which I kept wanting to return, stories which nested in the heart and which cherished the delicate and elusive rituals of our regard.

I’m also all about the musical reprise–that snippet of melody which returns again with a new purpose. The plucky ingenue song shifts to plaintive regret and back again, the music swells as the hero reaffirms their mission, or another voice enters in mournful tempo as the lover reconciles a loss. So on this day-after-Valentine’s-Day, I share with you Issue Folk’s reprise: “Issue II.5,” if you will–two additional stories which are, each in their own way, love songs, or rather, love songs to all of us.

We’re looking forward to announcing the launch of Issue 3: Future, and more, so stay tuned–and don’t miss out on the rest of Issue Folk!

With love,
– Kenzie