darkness

Poetry·Stella Lewin — A speaker stands alone in a thunderstorm, experiencing its fury through all senses, until sudden silence brings no relief from inner turmoil.

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.

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·Madeline Male — A concrete poem creates stars from periods across the page, ending with 'A memory of Joy' as the final constellation in a starless night.

Poetry·Sofie Dardzinski — From a patch of grass, a solitary observer watches the summer solstice sunset transform into night, tracking each color shift until fireflies claim the darkness.

Poetry·Kieran Fong — A poem traces the cycle from evening through night to dawn, observing how moonlight and starlight transform the landscape before sunrise returns.

Personal Narrative·Mengxin Sun — Seven-year-old stuck on a water slide at Great Wolf Lodge faces her fear of darkness and devises a solution to get the raft moving again.

Personal Narrative·Kathleen Werth — A meditation on how the sun's dangerous beauty contrasts with the moon's honest imperfections, questioning what nature teaches us about perception and need.

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 10 — A child vows to keep a secret forever, measuring that promise against apocalyptic visions of environmental destruction and the end of the world.