We are thrilled to finally present the “Fun House” issue of Pilgrimage, which experienced
several delays because of COVID-19. Thank you for bearing with us as we had to leave our
office and CSU-Pueblo campus in order to start working remotely. It continues to be a time
of learning, transition, and uncertainty, but we will do that work together.
With the publication of this and every issue of Pilgrimage, we will keep working to support
antiracist action, climate justice, and social activism, as it all connects to our focus on story,
spirit, witness, and place. Black Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. Indigenous Lives Matter.
ICE Detainees Matter. We stand in support of all these causes in calling for justice for George
Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Elijah McClain, and so many others lost
to police brutality. Pilgrimage will continue its commitment to inclusion, social justice, and other
reforms. Giving voice to as many diverse voices as possible is a start, and we will continue to
search out how we can contribute in meaningful ways and in service to our communities. There
is progress being made, but there is so much more work to do.
The original inspiration for this issue’s theme came from Roger Camp’s wonderful
photography. Our Creative Director mentioned that it reminded her of Jordan Peele’s movie, Us.
That’s where the funhouse begins. For some it’s the boardwalk, carnival atmosphere, filled with
flashing lights. It’s a time capsule where we wander into sensory overload. We enter the
haunted house with its mirrors, creaks, and jump scares. It transforms into reflections—bucket
lists, Zion National Park, manifestos to memory, odes to lotion, surgical mishaps, the
playfulness of the moon above, tributes to George Romero, the absurdity of making time to get
lost, customer service correspondences, and hungover suns. “Fun House” is our third issue that
features our translation folio with talented writers and translators working with Spanish, Persian,
and Chinese.
This issue also features our second annual Tarantula Contest Winner and finalists. We
are excited to feature our writers with a small gesture of recognition and accolades.
Congratulations to our winner, Suzanne
Richardson, for her poem, “My Husband Chopped My Hands Off.” In the Final Judge’s
statement, Nicky Beer writes:
What compelled me about this poem is how masterfully crafted it is throughout. When the
speaker initially tries to describe the act of violence committed against her, the metaphors
stutter as she conveys the image of her severed hands—“Like two lumps of sugar/ two
rocks/two oranges/two books/two fish”—as if to settle on only one would be unbearable, would
be to accept the atrocity. And the trauma itself becomes externalized as the “robot” that has
replaced her hands, a kind of animate representation of PTSD (note the skilled use of
enjambment here as well): “He put metal between / me and the world so I cannot touch it. I
cannot feel / at home.” And further on, the reader becomes complicit in their witnessing of this
violence: “You thought you knew the story when it started, / but then it really went somewhere
different. // Then it really surprised you.” And yet, the speaker ultimately dreams a future for her
lost hands (“I imagine them flying through the sky, no longer weighed down.” The poem ends
not with melodrama, or sentimentality, but with a redemptive faith in the imagination.
We also want to congratulate our finalists, Gerardo Pacheco Matus for his poem, “Border
Town Poem” and John Fry for his poem, “I’m Moving in with the Mourning Doves.” We are
grateful we are able to also celebrate their work.
Finally, with everything happening in the world, we hope that the poems and prose from
our contributors give you continued comfort, connection, and thought-provoking moments.
We hope that you are able to get fresh air and find ways to face the swath of changing
emotions while staying safe. We hope it reminds you that we are together in all of this, and
persist in the fight for just causes.• •
Juan Morales
Pueblo, CO
June 25, 2020
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