Crossing Boundaries

Writing this at year’s end, it’s easy to remember 2025 as an exhausting and discouraging time. In the U.S., we’ve suffered threats to democracy, public health care decisions based on discredited theories, and a loss of a sense of unity. Instead of finding common ground, we see vengeance and anger celebrated while empathy is belittled by those who have lost any sense of what the word even means.

Fortunately, we can also find news stories that are significant and positive–successes stopping malaria and AIDS; renewables finally outpacing coal as the number one global electricity source; Syria overthrowing the Assad regime—to list a few. (You can find many credible lists online if you’re seeking more examples.)

And then there’s…

Beyond that, for this and every year, there’s something reliably enlivening and engaging and creative we can turn to—literature. Even with painful situations or themes, good literature helps us connect with ourselves and see the world through the eyes and hearts of others.

As for BoomerLitMag, this has been an exciting year. We have many new subscribers and added theme issues to help us cope with the current political scene. Last issue was entirely on the theme of “Resilience,” and this issue includes works of fiction and poetry on “Crossing Boundaries.”

Boundaries of race, class, gender, ethics, and geography, to name a few, are represented in this issue’s fiction and poetry. These works explore ways we meet boundaries in our lives and how we navigate them.

For the first time in 8 years, the editor (with suspiciously similar name to mine) has also granted me permission to publish one of my poems here–a previously unpublished, older poem dealing with our theme and with the currently heated topic of immigration, so central to U.S. history.

In addition, there are poems outside the main theme, covering a broad range of themes and styles.

Thanks

We are grateful to all the authors every issue who take the time to submit their creations to us, to our volunteer staff, and to all of you readers who continue to read and recommend this magazine.

We also have a special thanks to long-time contributors Marge Piercy, whose work appears here for the fifth time, and Ron Riekki, sharing his poems for a fourth time.

We hope you enjoy the issue and its focus on crossing both metaphorical and physical boundaries.

New Theme

To continue to help us all through these difficult political times, our staff has chosen the theme of “Empathy, Compassion, Beneficence” for the next issue. Send us poems or stories exploring one or more parts of this theme by March 1. Review our theme guidelines page for details.

Volunteer Opportunity

Love literature and enjoy what you read here? (Of course you do–you’re reading this! Have relevant experience in writing/editing? Our volunteer-run publication is seeking additional volunteer first readers to review prose and poetry. Email Submissions@BoomerLitMag.com with a subject line of either Reader for Prose or Reader for Poetry. Tell us why you’d like to volunteer for us and why you feel qualified.

Be well, stay strong, help each other.

Leonard Lang, Editor