You’ll find water in some form mentioned in all these poems. Oceans, rivers, clouds, tears, ice, and vapor. Distillation removes impurities. These poems ARE THOSE IMPURITIES.

They are also a celebration of the North American Science Fiction Convention being held in Buffalo, New York at the northeast tip of Lake Erie, where the Niagara River begins its journey to the Mighty Falls of Niagara.

Among the poems are a Rhysling finalist, and a Dwarf Star finalist, along with a lot of new precipitation. Grab your kayak and jump in.

Herb Kauderer is a retired factory worker/truck driver who grew up to be a tenured associate professor of English at Hilbert College with a PhD, an MFA, and a lot of other degrees. He has written film, drama, non-fiction, and short fiction, but is most noted for his poetry. His writing has won the Critters Readers’ Award (2021), Asimov’s Readers’ Award (2017), the Ewaipanoma Sonnet Contest (2008), the WorldCon Poetry Slam (1998), the Sycamore Award (1992), and received many other accolades including honorable mention in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror (1996).

He is an assistant editor (slush reader) at Amazing Stories, co-edits SpecPo Reviews, and was the poetry editor of Triangulations: Habitats (2021). One of his favorite hobbies is getting scientists drunk so he can understand them. More about him and his writing can be found at HerbKauderer.com