Issue 4 Contents

A New Regionalism
The path toward a more local future.

Politics: To Preserve or Privatize
California’s state parks at a crossroads.
By Paul Barrett and Casey Mills

Poetry: “Late Lessons”
By W. S. Di Piero

Poetry: “Remove”
By Jessica Fisher

History: The Commune Effect
How utopian communities have fostered widespread change.
By Michael Zelenko

Symposium: Searching for Utopia
Local writers imagine a more perfect region.

Memoir: One Day I’ll Leave This Place
An incarcerated woman reflects on prison and her past.
By Victoria Sanchez

Essay: What Meth Means  [Full article]
Exploring the drug’s mystique.
By Richard Mills

Religion: Work as Meditation
A North Coast Buddhist community works to save sacred texts.
By Sarah Dozor

Fiction: “A Message from God”
By Jacqueline Doyle

Notes from the Field
Our readers’ dispatches from Martinez Detention Facility and Sierra Vista Hospital.