original perspective

Poetry·Kai-Yi Olsen — A child traces the day from morning cheer through sunset to a dark night where drops fall outside and nothing returns.

Story·Giles Trim — A cat narrates its elaborate escape from being taken to the vet, until it accidentally speaks English and shocks its humans into submission.

Poetry·Oola Breen-Ryan — A meditation on poetry's elusive nature through metaphors of spiderwebs in sunlight, chaos on paper, and the universe writing, ending with deliberate uncertainty.

Story·Willem Ehret — Lonely Athena, tired of being mocked by the other gods, invents humans to worship her wisdom, then cleverly trades each god's modifications for respect and power.

Poetry·Oliver Halkett — A teen traces identity through three places — Ireland's moody skies and rocky beaches, England's hard books and rock music, and California's eternal summer — finding home in the scattered...

Poetry·Emma Catherine Hoff — A woman sits alone in an automat, invisible to others, as her hair whispers conflicting advice and laughing people demand she smile.

Poetry·Emma Catherine Hoff — A woman falls through collapsing stairs, her body fragmenting into surreal objects—banjo, Picasso painting, brooms—while she prays not to be seen or painted.

Poetry·Hazel Grace — A stone travels through the world, shrinking from road to boot to child's hand, until it becomes a skipping stone dancing across water.

Poetry·Mary G. Lane — A zoo visitor observes how elephant shrews, overshadowed by elephants, still find their way into visitors' memories and diaries despite their smallness.

Story·Chris Yihan Ye — During extreme seasons—windy spring, scorching summer, cool fall, freezing winter—various animals struggle with weather challenges while their companions offer practical solutions they refuse.