seeing beauty in the ordinary

Poetry·Jordan Sung — Light streams through canyon rocks and trees, transforming water into emerald and creating a dance of shadows and illumination in a moss-carpeted grotto.

Personal Narrative·Aila Monacelli Schrider — A student walks from school to the subway, observing New York City's sensory overload with fresh eyes and genuine affection for urban chaos.

Poetry·Grace Zhuang — A young poet captures summer through garden growth, beach days, and songs, ending with a wistful plea for the season to remain.

Story·Allison Hansford — A lyrical catalog of a garden's inhabitants — leaves, trees, bushes, flowers, birds, and bugs — celebrates nature's overwhelming abundance and mystery.

Poetry·Ava Luangkesorn — A catalog poem assigns each punctuation mark a corresponding flower based on visual or metaphorical connections between their forms and functions.

Personal Narrative·Siyona Agarwal — During a memorable dinner in San Sebastian, a mother nervously lends her favorite scarf to her daughter, only to stain her own shirt while the scarf remains pristine.

Poetry·Iris Chalfen — A speaker watches seagulls and imagines waves from a window in Southwold, with fragmented repetitions creating a dreamlike meditation on coastal morning.

Story·Giles Trim — A cat narrates its elaborate escape from being taken to the vet, until it accidentally speaks English and shocks its humans into submission.

Poetry·Jaslene Kwack — A granddaughter observes how her grandmother's blue cotton dress absorbs daily scents and reflects the Korean proverb that clothes reveal character.

Poetry·Arabella Aab — Dawn in winter Asheville: a solitary observer watches snow fall, trees dance in wind, and contemplates ancestors' fear before the household wakes.