The July/August 2012 issue of Orion is waiting to greet you with a summery selection of poems. For starters, we hope you’ll be lifted on the wings and words of the meditative and bird-filled poems of Robert Cording (“Massachusetts Audubon Chart No. 1, 1898”) and Andrea Cohen (“Cherries”).

Then, if you’ve seen Werner Herzog’s film Cave of Forgotten Dreams—or even if you haven’t—you’ll be struck by the imagery and energy of Alison Hawthorne Deming’s “Chauvet,” a poem reflecting on art and the human imagination as well as our animal selves.

Finally, we feature a poem by Scottish writer Kathleen Jamie, a newcomer to Orion’s pages. In her poem “Roses,” a tumble of blooming roses becomes a social statement and a fanfare for the common man. In fact, it borrows a quote from the German revolutionary socialist and (World War I) anti-war activist Rosa Luxemburg: “I haggle for my little portion of happiness.”

We hope you find a “little portion of happiness” in your July/August Orion reading!

Hannah Fries is Poetry Editor of Orion.