Editor's Note

Linda Wang
Editor-in-Chief

Don't let this collection's cuteness deceive you.  We chose these pieces for the undeniable confrontations they create.  

In those visceral moments when the order of the world wrenches away, when a deer flashes in the windshield or gunshots ring out, we suddenly remember we've been on autopilot.  Reading, too, strips away the comfort of things, how the forms we took for solid shake themselves and disappear without warning while difficult memories twist and ripen into poetry you can almost heft in the palm of your hand.  

As you hurry on to your next endeavor, I hope this pocket collection of The Penn Review tags along.  Full of pain and beauty, it asks you to linger in the wake of the next collision.  Perhaps the questions you've pushed into the periphery are worth considering.  Be brave, dear reader.  Step beyond the flowers.