water

Story·Ava Shorten — A river blocked from the sea becomes a puddle who befriends an aging frog that shares stories of the ocean and ultimately carries the puddle to its destination.

Poetry·Alice Robinson-McVety — A found silver button with a swirl pattern becomes a portal to imagined water, its unknown owner haunting the speaker's meditation on the small, lost object.

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.

Poetry·Nova Macknik-Conde — A cascade of philosophical questions triggered by Turner's painting 'The Banks of the Loire' spirals from consciousness to existence itself, returning to the painting's contemplative figure.

Poetry·Laylah Burstein — A dancer encounters a whale's ancient wisdom through a wood knot that transforms in rain and streetlight, their movements becoming shared music.

Personal Narrative·Landen Cusick — A teenager finds peace paddleboarding on a lake, where swimming among fish and watching the sunset brings clarity about focusing on life's beauty rather than its troubles.

Poetry·Eily A. Chiu, age 9 — A child greets morning in a garden filled with roosters, geese, flowers, and a brook, experiencing each element as a gift from the natural world.

Poetry·Benjamin Romano, age 10 — A child sits on a dock at sunset, watching boats bob and waves crash, finding peace in the transition from day to night.

Poetry·Lilly Davatzes, age 11 — Letters crash like storm waves and words dive like birds in this visceral metaphor for the experience of dyslexia.

Poetry·Rex Huang, age 11 — A nature poem moves through seasons and small dramas — a cat-mouse chase, beavers splashing, a robin's descent — to reveal nature's hidden language.