contemplative

Poetry·Beatrice Milasan — A train passenger watches the ocean transform from violent turquoise waves to peaceful sunset, remembering childhood drawings and contemplating permanence amid change.

Poetry·Satya Villacorta — A rock on a cliff observes the forest through a day, finding richness in stillness as the world below bustles on.

Poetry·Woody Szydlik, age 12 — A young poet contemplates the Continental Divide, finding excitement in the engineering feat and the symbolic boundary between watersheds and oceans.

Story·Katie Sinclair, age 13 — Two friends visit an aquarium and walk the pier, where floating red roses on gray ocean water prompt reflection on breaking patterns.

Poetry·Lotus Shen, age 11 — A catalog poem traces things that vanish — vapor trails, insects, melting snowflakes, flowing water — finding the hidden nature of everyday disappearances.

Poetry·Alyssa Cho — Dawn breaks through trees as birds find their perches, while the speaker breathes in the ancient scents of maple and oak between dreams and waking.

Poetry·Wujun Ke, age 13 — Dawn light travels through trees as birds find their perches and begin singing, while the speaker breathes in the ancient scents of maple and oak.

Poetry·Olivia Mulley — Dawn light travels through trees to open eyes as birds find their perches and begin singing, while ancient scents drift through an open window.