trees

Poetry·Brooke Callan, age 10 — A reader transforms into knights, princesses, and trolls while reading beneath a summer tree, until sleep overtakes imagination.

Personal Narrative·Caden Wang, age 12 — Four brief meditations capture moments in different outdoor spaces — a forest path, tennis court, porch, and window view — through precise sensory observation.

Poetry·Rainer Pasca, age 14 — A sensory-rich prose poem captures the disorienting joy of falling into snow, where time slows and the world transforms into crystal whispers and flying lights.

Poetry·Sean Tenzin O'Connor, age 5 — A child observes the grain patterns in a piece of wood under lamplight, seeing landscapes of mountains, rivers, trees, and worms in its natural markings.

Poetry·Eva Worsick, age 9 — A child addresses a cedar tree, remembering climbing its branches, building a swing, sharing secrets, and hanging Christmas ornaments that catch the light.

Oak

Poetry·Graham TerBeek, age 10 — An oak tree discovers purpose through seasons of loss and renewal, finding meaning not in being special but in providing shade, shelter, and friendship.

Air

Poetry·Julia Marcus, age 13 — A hiker rises above civilization to Lake Alpine, becoming one with the hawk soaring overhead, breathing pine and sage and thin mountain air.

Poetry·Summer Loh, age 8 — A child observes a tree on the lawn, noting the birds, squirrels, rustling leaves, floating bark, and a flower bud waiting to bloom.

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.

Story·Karen Susanto, age 13 — A fox drinking at a forest pond narrowly escapes a stone thrown by humans, whose intrusion shatters the peaceful sanctuary.