sensory richness
— During California's 2020 wildfires, a girl wakes to an apocalyptic orange sky and wonders when the world will return to normal.
— A sonnet celebrating nature's cycles through sensory images of water, wildlife, and seasonal changes, from sunset to sunrise, rain to bloom.
— A young guitarist loses herself in playing, as golden light fades to darkness and the music wraps around her like a quilt.
— A hiker rises above civilization to Lake Alpine, becoming one with the hawk soaring overhead, breathing pine and sage and thin mountain air.
— Five vignettes explore monsoon rain in India, questions of faith and atheism, becoming an older sister, a medical emergency, and reflections on friendship and the pandemic.
— A girl captures a single domestic moment: her brother toddling, father playing guitar, mother cooking, while she types and notices summer trees blooming outside.
— A meditation on dishwashing becomes a portal to memory, neighborhood sounds, and the passage of time in a Korean household abroad.
— A child observes a tree on the lawn, noting the birds, squirrels, rustling leaves, floating bark, and a flower bud waiting to bloom.
— A New York City boy gets permission to go outside alone for the first time, gets lost, and must find his way home using the subway.
— A visit to a family's longtime East Los Angeles bakery triggers memories spanning generations, from the writer's great-grandfather to present-day holiday gatherings.