A Barked Knee, Indeed

We're excited by the attention we've received so far, and thankful to all who have contacted us with questions, suggestions, and early submissions---don't worry, we understand eagerness and we'll read the early birds, too.

We've been surprised by a few things, though, and even troubled more than once.

Maybe we need to clarify our philosophy.

We at Four Branches do indeed love Picasso, and we even love Stein's marvelous poetic tribute to him. We are not interested in discarding, disregarding, or disdaining any well-crafted poetic endeavor.

We recognize that the writing world is a large one.

We assume that it is large enough for us, too.

We believe there are many highly-skilled writers whose work is at once important, meaningful, masterful, and accessible to those who we call readers-with-intent.

What is a reader-with-intent? For our purposes, a reader-with-intent is one who is willing to do his share of the work. She is not looking to be spoon-fed.

They are looking for meaning and are willing to suspend disbelief long enough to enter the stream of a poem or short fiction and live the journey.

They also expect the writers they read to do their share of the work, to attempt to communicate, naturally and beautifully, in an accessible way.

These may be literary types (though we dislike that term, we know it communicates) or they may be factory workers, retirees, flower shop owners, stay-at-home dads, CEO's...you see our point.

This seemingly innocuous idea (writing for those outside of exclusively literary circles) has sparked much discourse, and we scratch our heads.

Our knees have been barked, but we've worn bandaids before.

That said, we are eagerly looking forward to these next few months, and hope our supporters will not be ashamed of our efforts.