lyrical prose

Story·Pauline McAndrew, age 9 — A girl arrives at a family gathering in North Carolina, plays with cousins, collects wood for a fire, and finds home in the sensory details of the reunion.

Story·Alejandro Lugo Saavedra, age 13 — A boy named Gabriel dreams of his Arizona childhood, navigates Pennsylvania middle school, then learns his family must move to Florida.

Poetry·Yutia Li, age 9 — A playful cosmic origin story traces from a tiny speck's explosion through the Big Bang to Earth's formation and the first single-celled life.

Poetry·Kieran O'Donnell, age 11 — A philosophical meditation on how cold is merely the absence of heat, exploring the nature of opposites and what truly exists versus what we perceive.

Poetry·Rebecca Beaver, age 13 — A speaker confronts the loss of their heart to the moon, becoming a whisper of their former self in this surreal exploration of identity and emptiness.

Poetry·Ana Carpenter, age 10 — A girl imagines being queen of the world, floating above in moonlight and clouds, but discovers the weight of such power and chooses ordinary life instead.

Poetry·Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer, age 9 — A father and daughter venture into the woods to craft a bow and arrows, transforming branches into instruments that sing and shoot arrows toward stars that scamper like foxes.

Poetry·Angelina Lu, age 11 — A dreamlike poem where nothing and noone inhabit a valley of inverted colors and upside-down trees, until someone and everyone arrive to paint the sky with love.

Poetry·Nour Mokbel, age 11 — A walker observes the ocean at sunset, noting waves, seagulls, and the changing sky as day transforms into starry night.

Poetry·Sophie Nerine, age 12 — A car journey through a mountain valley becomes a meditation on the overwhelming beauty of landscape and the intrusion of human presence.