seeing beauty in the ordinary

Poetry·Analise Braddock, age 9 — A young poet connects the mathematical concept of parallel lines to the endless nature of Christmas traditions and Santa's eternal journey.

Poetry·Raeha Khazanchi, age 11 — Northern lights transform a winter landscape, turning snow green and hair violet-blue in a private celestial performance witnessed by the speaker.

Poetry·Avery Lakomy, age 12 — A young poet questions why we divide the world into regions when their eyes see only one unified place where all people belong together.

Personal Narrative·Raya Ilieva, age 10 — During California's 2020 wildfires, a girl wakes to an apocalyptic orange sky and wonders when the world will return to normal.

Poetry·Jake Sun, age 9 — A philosophical meditation on the concept of nothing — its paradoxical presence in absence, its role in thought and space, and its unexpected value in our lives.

Poetry·Olivia Wang, age 10 — A sonnet celebrating nature's cycles through sensory images of water, wildlife, and seasonal changes, from sunset to sunrise, rain to bloom.

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.

Art

Poetry·Sim Ling Thee, age 13 — A spilled mug of milk becomes a meditation on how accidents and disasters might transform into art when viewed from a different perspective.

Poetry·Summer Loh, age 8 — A girl captures a single domestic moment: her brother toddling, father playing guitar, mother cooking, while she types and notices summer trees blooming outside.

Poetry·William Chui, age 13 — A boy discovers beauty in his seemingly routine summer day, noticing small details — a flickering light, his dog's warm belly, new plants in the backyard.