C a n a r y

MISSION STATEMENT

“It is our belief that the arts are the embodiment of the soul of a culture, that the promotion of writers and artists is essential if our current culture, with its emphasis on television and provocative outcomes, is to have a chance to develop that inner voice and ear that expresses and listens to beauty. Toward that end, Hip Pocket Press will search out those undiscovered poets and writers whose voices can give us a clearer understanding of ourselves and of the culture which defines us.”
— Charles Entrekin, Managing Editor

© Hip Pocket Press

“The canary in the coal mine” was a primitive early warning system used by miners to alert themselves to poison gases seeping into the mines. If the canary was found dead, it was time to get out quick. As a metaphor, its significance for me includes not only the salvation of the humans, but also the casual loss of the canary, that fragile and innocent bird with its lovely song, sacrificed without a passing regret. So often the poets of a culture are the canaries, the first ones to be hurt by trends so large that they are not immediately visible. This time the poets are raising our voices on behalf of the natural world, which cannot articulate its plight. We must stop destroying the natural world. We are destroying ourselves.
— The Editor

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