Welcome. Pulsebeat 03 continues the pattern established by Pulsebeat 01 and Pulsebeat 02 and contains a large selection of expertly crafted and enjoyable poems by accomplished poets. All future issues will follow this same basic plan, so to avoid cluttering up the internet with needless repetition, future Editor’s Notes will no longer point the fact out but will begin with a description of the cover photo.
This issue’s cover photo shows a 3D-printed cutting tool being measured in a laser set-up gage to verify dimensions. This type of tool is used with oil mist lubrication, compressed air and oil, and I was varying the internal piping (leading to the four exit holes on the side) to get more air and oil out of the top. The dimensions weren’t all that accurate, so I didn’t do much but air flow and oil balance measurements with it. But it’s a very pretty tool, and the dimensions are close enough for the cover of a poetry journal. It’s knowing what to do with things that counts.
I retired from the engineering world at the end of August and am now a recovering engineer. My friends think I will relapse within six months or so because I will be bored stiff and not know what to do with myself at home, but they’re unaware of all the schemes I’ve been hatching. Pulsebeat is just the tip of the iceberg. The other news is that I had minor surgery, and although the entire saga brims with fascinating details the only one I will share is that it was “robotic assisted.” This means that when they wheeled me into the operating room HOLY CRAP THERE’S A GIANT ROBOT. It had six arms with little pincers on the ends. As they were putting me under all I could think about was all the intrusive and undignified things I’ve done to machines over the years, and now the reckoning was at hand.
The reading period for Pulsebeat 04, which will be posted in January 2023 and which will usher in our second year, begins October 1. Until January, please enjoy the wonderful poetry in this issue, as I have.
Pulsebeat Poetry Journal 