When I first saw the cover image for this issue, I was struck by absence: the absence of bird, the absence of definitive answers. Did the bird escape? Was the bird released? Does the bird come and go freely, the cage door always open for its return? Has the cage door been open for months this way, waiting? Was there ever a bird, or only the hope for one? Was it even a bird at all?

All I think we can know for certain is that the cage with the open door is a container for absence. We cannot see absence, even under a bright light. All we see is the empty cage, the open door, the shadow cast.

I am deeply grateful to Dale for letting me guest-edit this 78th issue of Right Hand Pointing and to all the contributors for sharing the variations on absence herein: the empty cages, the open doors, the shadows.

Laura M. Kaminski

Associate Editor