seeing beauty in the ordinary

Poetry·Anna Weinberg — A child mistakes an airplane for a star while making a wish, then decides the plane will carry the wish across the world instead.

Poetry·Oisin Stephens — Trees gain fiery autumn cloaks while evergreens envy their beauty, not knowing the burden it carries—a meditation on transformation and permanence.

Poetry·Madeleine Palter — A prose poem captures the sensory landscape of a neighborhood street through wind, racing cars, crunching leaves, gossip, and flickering streetlights.

Poetry·Ian Maduff — A kinetic poem follows a car journey across the Bishop Ford bridge, past landmarks and exits, building speed toward a hidden quarry pit.

Personal Narrative·Rachel Jess Bueker — On a windy gray beach day, a girl transforms driftwood into a pirate ship, discovering sea glass and the power of imagination along the way.

Poetry·Satya Villacorta — A rock on a cliff observes the forest through a day, finding richness in stillness as the world below bustles on.

Personal Narrative·Mia Xu — A girl who missed last year's snow savors an early morning walk with her dog through fresh snowfall, reflecting on how scarcity makes things precious.

Story·Nate Varga — A lost British soldier stumbles upon a Bedouin camp in the Arabian desert and is led to witness the rare blooming of the Queen of the Night flower, triggering memories...

Poetry·Kieran Fong — A poem traces the cycle from evening through night to dawn, observing how moonlight and starlight transform the landscape before sunrise returns.

Poetry·Elijah Osmond — A snowman reflects on its first day of existence, finding joy in children's company by day and kinship with falling snow by night.