ocean

Poetry·Grace Zhuang, age 6 — A young poet captures summer through garden flowers, beach dresses, and ocean waves, ending with a wish for the season to stay.

Poetry·Peter Shuster-Raizberg, age 7 — A young poet observes the ocean's mysteries—fish, sharks, treasure—while lamenting that its population is disappearing.

Poetry·Summer Loh, age 8 — A child's observational poem captures an evening landscape where sea meets shore, birds hunt, stars emerge, and a hen settles into her nest.

Poetry·Ella Pierce, age 12 — A paddleboarder experiences heightened awareness of nature's details — jumping fish, water droplets, moonlight — finding beauty in imperfection and rhythm.

Story·Isabelle Chapman, age 13 — A girl's obsessive attachment to a blue cookie jar leads to its loss at the beach during quarantine, forcing her to confront her dependence on the object.

Story·Raya Ilieva, age 10 — When her parents announce their divorce, twelve-year-old Kate runs away to the beach but realizes she needs her family—even if it's changing.

Poetry·Amber Zhao, age 10 — A meditation on Antarctic exploration becomes a reflection on distance between friends, memory's persistence, and how shared experiences diverge in recollection.

Poetry·Amber Zhao, age 10 — A young visitor transforms an aquarium trip into a meditation on humanity's relationship with nature, moving from wonder to environmental critique and back to artistic creation.

Poetry·Evangeline Flynn, age 10 — A small boat drifts on crystal waters under a rainbow sky, its peaceful rocking motion mesmerizing the observer in this watercolor-inspired meditation.

Poetry·Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer, age 13 — A young traveler contrasts swimming in the stormy Pacific and touching dead jellyfish with glimpses of urban decay seen from a bus window in a Chilean coastal city.