---

I laid down in the field and the flowers

held me between their petals. Their bodies open,

soft with a fragrant scent. The clover pressed

its cheek against my palm, the dandelion

tickled me with its dust, and the lily blanketed me.

I slept unlike ever before, a cloud in the

summer sky, nothing but the slow buzz of

bees singing me to sleep. They murmured old hymns

like nature’s lullaby. Throughout the night,

I heard nature’s small realms muttering around me,

the grass shifting and shivering beside my ear.

The roots twisted beneath my spine, and a moth

landed in my hair as though it was crowning me.

A ladybug tapped my ankle, gentle as a knock,

then kept its steady, slow path without apology.

A cricket chirped between the petals of a

distant leaf as I watched the stars illuminate

between the stalks. By morning, I had become

but one more stem among the rest.

---

Grace Lee, a high school student in Seoul, South Korea, is passionate about words. Whether crafting stories or poems, she blends her unique perspective with the vibrant culture of Seoul. She has explored her passion for creative writing at the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop and Juniper Young Writers Online. Excited to contribute to the literary landscape, Grace’s writing reflects the universal themes of adolescence in a big city.