letter from the editor
To the readers of honey & lime:
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For decades, the reproductive rights of those with uteruses have been a continuous uphill battle that only seems to get harder to climb. We have succumbed to a system where it seems as though people with uteruses are not allowed to have full control of what is rightfully theirs. This issue is for all those who deserve to be heard. The contributors in this issue have beautifully vocalized the anger in taking back what belongs to them.
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I thought it would be interesting to have this letter be written from the perspective of someone without a uterus. For someone who does not know what it is like to have the beautiful ability to bring life into the world. That gift can of course bring joy and a new light, but it can also come with fear, confusion, and loss. Even more now, a new fear with the reality that some people with uteruses do not even have full control over their body.
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The stories of pregnancy and abortion are infinite in how they are told and who they are told by. We have carefully selected the stories and words that speak the loudest and cut the deepest. Ivy Marie mourns the loss in one generation as well as the hope for life in a new one. Enchanting spotlights on the female anatomy from Lula. The wishfully sweet yet poetically hollow words from Kayla King. The heart twisting truth in LeAnne Hunt’s poem about loving a daughter who did not ask to be born. Gayla Kerns’ bold and honest art of how an apocalypse begins. The unique story every noun has in Laura Ohlmann’s essay about her abortion. These works only scratch the surface of the other emotional storytelling that this issue offers.
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From Amy Jarvis’ poem, “When the Arcana Isn’t Enough,” she writes, “every seed she plants flowers upward.” This line completely embodies the meaning of this issue. You have the power to create, from life to most importantly, change. All the seeds you plant into the world will grow as long as you give it all your love and fight. This is not just one woman’s story. This issue is for every person with a uterus who has felt silenced and trapped, who has felt joy and freedom, who has felt everything they have the right to feel about their body, this is for you.
Zane Frederick
Poetry Editor
honey & lime literary magazine