Poetry
— A salmon's perspective during its final leap upstream, narrowly escaping a grizzly bear's jaws before reaching calmer waters.
— An 11-year-old processes her parents' divorce through a poem that moves from suppressed tears to overwhelming grief, cataloging each source of pain.
— Laughter becomes a cool glass of water that offers temporary escape from homework, hospital visits, and the weight of the real world.
— A prose poem explores the color black through a series of sensory images, from crows to horses, culminating in a meditation on loss and racial identity.
— A girl meets a shelter cat whose piteous call and pale green eyes transfix her, leading to adoption and the naming of Stella.
— A granddaughter and grandfather share quiet tea on the back porch, watching the sunset and listening to the world together in companionable silence.
— Two dogs race across a beach where sunset transforms lake and sand into fiery red, ending with them asleep in the blood-colored landscape.
— A young baseball player faces his last at-bat, trembling with fear, then watches his hit soar out of sight, transforming doubt into victory.
— A single daffodil pushes through snow and mud to bloom, becoming spring's first herald among the winter browns and grays.
— Three cousins play Monster Tag in overgrown summer fields, transforming into predator and prey as they chase through bushes and around corners.