Size / / /

Content warning:


On Mark Hamill voicing Luke Skywalker for a Ukrainian air raid alert app

Luke Skywalker could do a lot of things
   as we have witnessed time
and time again. He could even learn
   to use the Force
under a strict deadline and high pressure
so well he could shoot a minuscule target
   to destroy the deadliest weapon
in the galaxy with his X-Wing’s targeting
computer switched off and nothing to guide him
   but faith in himself and those
who came before him, but that was
a long time ago and a galaxy far,
   far away.
Now, in our galaxy, all we have
is the echo of Luke Skywalker
   alerting us to threats from the sky,
   demanding we do not hesitate to hide,
but unlike his Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi,
   Luke Skywalker does not tell us
to use the Force. Instead, he says,
   May the Force be with you,
and only after the threat has passed.
Luke Skywalker could do a lot of things,
   and while a space wizard from the past
cannot save us now, maybe he can remind us
to have faith in ourselves and those who came before us
since many will not hear Luke Skywalker say,
   May the Force be with you,
or remember that Obi-Wan Kenobi insisted,
   The Force will be with you, always.

 

 

[Editor’s Note: Publication of this poem was made possible by a gift from Matt during our annual Kickstarter.]



Deron Eckert is a writer and poet who lives in Lexington, Kentucky. His work has appeared in Rattle, Door is a Jar, Ghost City Review, Maudlin House, and elsewhere. He is currently seeking publication for his Southern Gothic coming-of-age novel and his first collection of poetry.
Current Issue
20 Jan 2025

Strange Horizons
Surveillance technology looms large in our lives, sold to us as tools for safety, justice, and convenience. Yet the reality is far more sinister.
Vans and campers, sizeable mobile cabins and some that were barely more than tents. Each one a home, a storefront, and a statement of identity, from the colorful translucent windows and domes that harvested sunlight to the stickers and graffiti that attested to places travelled.
“Don’t ask me how, but I found out this big account on queer Threads is some kind of super Watcher.” Charlii spins her laptop around so the others can see. “They call them Keepers, and they watch the people that the state’s apparatus has tagged as terrorists. Not just the ones the FBI created. The big fish. And people like us, I guess.”
It's 9 a.m., she still hasn't eaten her portion of tofu eggs with seaweed, and Amaia wants the day to be over.
Nadjea always knew her last night in the Clave would get wild: they’re the only sector of the city where drink and drug and dance are unrestricted, and since one of the main Clavist tenets is the pursuit of corporeal joy in all its forms, they’ve more or less refined partying to an art.
surviving / while black / is our superpower / we lift broken down / cars / over our heads / and that’s just a tuesday
After a few deft movements, she tossed the cube back to James, perfectly solved. “We’re going to break into the Seattle Police Department’s database. And you’re going to help me do it.”
there are things that are toxic to a bo(d)y
By: Michelle Kulwicki
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
  In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Michelle Kulwicki's 'Bee Season' read by Emmie Christie Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify.
Wednesday: Motheater by Linda H. Codega 
Friday: Revising Reality: How Sequels, Remakes, Retcons, and Rejects Explain The World by Chris Gavaler and Nat Goldberg 
Issue 13 Jan 2025
Issue 6 Jan 2025
By: Samantha Murray
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 23 Dec 2024
Issue 16 Dec 2024
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Load More