Last August, a stranger’s split-second conflation of accelerator and brake sent his car hurtling through my family’s post-funeral lunch, slamming into the table where I sat beside my grandmother’s best friend of 70 years, whom I’ve affectionately referred to as the “blueberry granny” all my life. That day, the life of this woman, once a connective tissue of my family, abruptly and tragically halted.

When you grow up, you start to question the world around you.

The uniting theme across these three poems is temporality: of friendships (WHAT I DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE), of experiences (Ode to Mile Repeats), and of communities (After).

I wrote this piece over the summer, and I wanted to capture that feeling of being adrift.

In the 1990s to 2000s, thousands of infant girls -- thought to be weaker, a worse investment than their brothers --- from China were exported to the US, collateral of the one child policy, and adopted by white families.

The process of writing my “Where I’m From” poem, I had to confront my insecurities about my racial identity.

A short story about someone struggling with self alienation and learning to grapple with self acceptance.

I wrote this poem because I was worried that when I got older and lived on my own I would not be able to navigate life or figure things out by myself given that my Mom and my Dad do many things for me.

In my poem, I hope to convey feelings of nostalgia and warmth from the moments that seem to slip by us so quickly.

This piece is shaped by the many kinds of grief I've carried, family illness to cancer, leaving a toxic home, and watching someone I love struggle with depression and self-harm.

I want viewers to understand that my piece explores the complicated line between friendship, envy, & pain.

These poems were inspired by mother, who taught me about love, perseverance, and independence.

This is a fictional story about a family's vacation as told from the points of view of the well-meaning but slightly clueless father, and the sullen, yet loving, teenage daughter.

I use poetry to express my emotions of real-world situations and problems.

In this piece, I attempted to represent the end of a relationship with a deep backstory in as sparse and concise a way as possible.

I created this piece to illustrate the struggle of holding yourself together during times of distress in front of loved ones, but still breaking under the emotional pressure.

I believe understanding (oneself, others, the world) takes a kind of skilled creativity not everyone recognizes.

As a kid, I've been picked on and name called.

What inspired this piece was my own personal experience with what I talk about in the story.

Cherry pits to me have always felt like they are nothing but problems to deal with.