One issue I have been pondering this month, is the question of why it is that it seems like the venue of online poetry is so predominantly made up of North American writers. Now, before I go any further, I should probably acknowledge that the "why" is most likely answered by the fact that North American sites predominate on the web in general, so it would make sense that online publications would only reflect this state.

Still, I cannot help asking myself, where, are all those writers from all those other countries, (even from non-English speaking ones; I know for a fact that a lot of them do write in English, or have their work translated) and why it would seem that their work is nowhere near as readily accessible or abundant on the web.

Along the same lines, I have also noticed that when you visit the two dozen or so of the "better known" poetry mags on the web, same names keep cropping up time and time again. This also somewhat baffles me. Is the circle really that tight? This is, after all, the "world wide web", is it not? Where's everyone else?

I'd really like to know. Perhaps, I am not looking in the right places. I've done a number of searches, even looking within "local" directories of certain search engines, but have generally come up short. If I really am missing something, I would appreciate it very much if someone would point me in the right direction.

On a different note, I am very pleased to present this month's issue. A special thank you to Mary Beth Lowes for creating the drawings for this month's cover, and as always, a big thank you to all contributors and everyone who took time to submit their work this month.

Mark Melton
Editor,
3rd Muse Poetry Journal