connection to nature

Poetry·Ian Maduff — A car journey through an Indiana wind farm becomes a meditation on movement, shadows, and the hypnotic rhythm of spinning turbines.

Poetry·Mirabel Sandler — A poem contrasts natural elements with human infrastructure, calling for a shift in how we see and treat the earth's beauty.

Poetry·Clark Liu, age 9 — A child captures autumn's arrival through sound patterns, describing wool sweaters, breezy sneezes, chattering trees, and red leaves flooding streets like a stream.

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·Mia Xu, age 11 — A child observes her father's emotional state mirroring stock market fluctuations during COVID-19, realizing she cares about stocks because they affect him.

Poetry·Sofie Dardzinski — A single sentence captures a backyard workspace where ivy with emerald-like leaves points toward a brick patio, covering curved stone underfoot.

Poetry·Sage Surra — Fish rise from waters across the world to sing cosmic songs of life, death, and connection, pausing Earth's rotation and revealing the universe's vastness.

Story·Emory Lim — A field guide to endangered fairy species reveals how moonglow, willow, and honeybee fairies serve as keystone species in their ecosystems, calling for conservation action.

Personal Narrative·Amber Zhao — A skeptical traveler discovers unexpected beauty on Australia's Sunshine Coast, finding solace in wild seas, storm-lit skies, and a memorial grove that transforms her perspective.

Story·Ellie Wang — A wizard searches for her broken wand, reconnects with her grandfather oak tree, and together they send dreams to humans to inspire forest conservation.