wonder

Poetry·Sophia Famolari — A prose poem explores mirrors as metaphors for self-examination, suggesting we must break and reconstruct our perceptions to find truth within reflection.

Poetry·Marielle Miller — A speaker rebels against expected questions (what, where, when) and instead asks 'why,' exploring the tension between curiosity and conformity.

Personal Narrative·Clementine Lewis — A young swimmer discovers the underwater world of a Bermuda coral reef, encountering a parrotfish that transforms her understanding of the ocean.

Poetry·Oola Breen-Ryan — A meditation on poetry's elusive nature through metaphors of spiderwebs in sunlight, chaos on paper, and the universe writing, ending with deliberate uncertainty.

Poetry·Mary G. Lane — A zoo visitor observes how elephant shrews, overshadowed by elephants, still find their way into visitors' memories and diaries despite their smallness.

Poetry·Madeline Male — A brief meditation on the paradox of 'now' — how the present moment of writing becomes the past by the time of reading.

Personal Narrative·Xi Huang — After witnessing a powerful storm from her Florida deck, a young girl discovers the ocean's terrifying magnificence and gains new understanding of its dual nature.

Poetry·Mary Gomes — A child's meditation on the beauty of the name Paulina spirals into wonder about meaning, naming, and the limits of knowledge.

Poetry·Saketh Lingisetty — A young poet questions their abilities and identity through metaphors of fullness, loops, and tilting tables, ultimately affirming their excellence despite uncertainty.

Poetry·Celia Chen — A speaker anxiously checks for signs of spring's arrival, moving from uncertainty to joyful confirmation as frost melts and soil awakens.