Well Met
May 2026
Welcome to the May 2026 issue of Well Met, which begins with some sad news. Dear Queenie, the guinea pig in our cover photo, passed away at the end of March due to a sudden infection. Aged just over 5 years and 4 months old, she is much missed. It was a privilege to know her.
During her lifetime, Queenie inspired in many ways. There was ‘Philosopher-Queenie’ and also ‘Poet-Queenie’, the latter inasmuch as two poems about her were published in children's poetry journal The Dirigible Balloon. We’re grateful to Editor Jonathan Humble for this kindness, and one of the Queenie poems is republished on Word-Bird’s page in this issue; thank you, W.-B.
In the circumstances, it felt apt to make May’s prompt-if-you-want ‘Pets’, such that these pages are positively hailing cats and dogs for the most part, with Mike Burch providing a princely parakeet for good measure. Our thanks to Mike, and also to David, Ethan, Gail, John, Mark, Melissa, Paul, Steven, Susan, for pet-themed pieces! There‘s a great range of approaches here. We also have some superb contributions on other topics, courtesy of David, Janet, Janice, Mark, Steven. From spring to sprung, creation to destruction, light to blight, it‘s an amazing May-zing mix of an issue!
Thanks to all our contributors for agreeing to be featured:
And, as always, many thanks to all our readers; we‘re very grateful for your encouragement!
Happy May!
Fliss
