Poetry died 100 years ago, claims an opinion piece by Matthew Walther in the New York Times. He goes on to say that poetry is dead as "we stopped writing good poetry and we are now incapable of doing so. The culprit is not bad pedagogy or formal experimentation but rather the very conditions of modern life, which have demystified and alienated us from the natural world". This is a worrying statement to come across especially, if like us, you too, breathe poetry. Superficially it might seem easy to dismiss the claim. And one could support the argument by claiming that there are probably more practising poets today than ever before. That poetry today is finding more publishers (buoyed by the efforts of boutique/ indie publishers and online journals) than at any other time in history. That one cannot – even if one wishes to - totally ignore poetry on social media (even if the quality might be circumspect). But talking about the future of poetry only in terms of publishing opportunities and eyeballs might be a bit short-sighted. What I believe is missing from the discourse, is the ability of a poem to enter the collective dialogue. Though I do not agree with Walter Matthew and his doomsday prediction on poetry or his assessment that poetry is dying because we are alienated from the natural world, I believe that the relevance of poetry diminishes if it cannot fuel daily conversation. If it cannot be quoted at the bar and the restaurant. At the dinner table on a first date and while making love. Poetry (or at least lines from poems) must be quotable in classrooms and election rallies. Narrow Road has always endeavoured to be home to literature that can spark a conversation. The poems and haibun this time are no different. This time around though we did not receive any fiction pieces that could impress the editors. We make up for that by presenting two feeble attempts at short fiction by the editors and 16 paintings - all different versions of 'Winter in a Wheatfield'. The paintings have been created using AI by our very own Raamesh Gowri Raghavan as a tribute to Ukraine. The series pays tribute to Ukraine and has been spread throughout the issue. We are excited about what Artificial Intelligence may bring to the world of art and literature and we shall be watching the developments very closely. I would also like to reiterate, that every journal depends on the quality of its submissions, and we are not getting enough quality fiction submissions. We are looking for the unusual, the exciting, the experimental, and the ones which may not fit anywhere else. In this world of irrelevant information and fake news, it falls upon fiction to speak out the truth. So let us hear your voice. I hope you enjoy the poems, haibun and the review we have served up for you.

Paresh Tiwari