August 2025

There are different kinds of mystery in literature. The first is the kind that a detective can solve, where a piece of information is revealed, a missing fact is uncovered, or a culprit is found. The other is the more inscrutable, deeply more intimate kind of mystery, about the failure of ideals and belief systems to fully capture or incorporate the amorphous impressions of human experience. The second is what Orion’s Belt is about, and it is what most great literature is about. Fragmentation and uncertainty mar even the most serene contentment, and wistful yearning exists even in profound sorrow: this month’s essay is about that kind of mystery, and the poignantly reflective story and poem of the month exemplify that kind of quicksilver ambivalence of experience. Art can and should strive to capture those facets of life that avoid measurement and categorization.