By Emily Nowak, age 15, New Jersey

Raw,
Weak,
Starved.

By Victoria Krylova, Nonfiction Editor

As knives in the dark
Where the wind beats violently against nothing
A great tempest fumes
The tear of a raging flood

By Allison Stein, Poetry Editor

It’s funny.
I showed you my bruised soul—
My scars, my flaws, the raw wounds of my spirit—
But you told me I was beautiful.

By Henry Gillman, age 12, California

Of all the ways to postulate
The slimy item on my plate,
A fatal poison sounds like it rings true,
But even now I am still curious—

By Rosemary, age 14, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Falling from the sky are snowflakes.
In my little hands I want to take
Those white crystals that are so bright;
I wish I could hold on to them so tightly.

By Victoria Krylova, Nonfiction Editor

Smear of wrinkles, tattered hair,
A long life mapped on his forehead,
An old man sways over a cane,
Racked with ill health.