Best of the Net Nominee
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By Hilary Levinson Virgo 𖤓 | Aquarius ⏾ | Scorpio ↑ Lake Michigan, June 21, 2003 Sand and inky darkness,memory, still light. The dark ebbs, and I see usa blanket on the sandsilhouettes against the rising sun. This will be the first of many, but for yearsand even now,it will be this moment I think…
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By Hannah Colbert This piece has been selected by our editors to be nominated for the 2027 Pushcart Prize. I wake up in the spring, sun above me and icy ground below, as soon as my body thaws. The soft snow is dirty, and the forest floor is wet. I shift my spine experimentally; it’s stiff…
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By Rebecca Foltin Sagittarius 𖤓 | Virgo ⏾ | Leo ↑ Do not mourn the winter;that is the job of the mourning dove. Spring came yesterday to show usjust how good life can get, then left in a fury this morning.Spring is the worst woman to lose. I move through the woods, calling her name,baby…
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Goddess of Bloom By Andi Spring Taurus 𖤓 | Taurus ⏾ | Libra ↑ Medium: Collage on cardstock Andi Spring (she/they) is a multimedia artist and poet from Kentucky. Through her art, Spring explores identity, vulnerability, trauma, and change. She lives and creates with her partner, Alex, as well as their pets, Midge, Basil, and…
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By Molly McDonough I Warm salted water tumbles me like laundry to land. I swim back out unafraid. Wave after wave buoys my eleven-year-old body. It’s my favorite week of every summer—visiting my great aunt at Myrtle Beach. On the shore, my mom waves with her whole arms, cups hands to mouth and screams something.…
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By Najla Elmachtoub This piece has been selected by our editors to be nominated for the 2026 Pushcart Prize. “Bokra1, I will visit my brother in America,” you tell me, more like a fact than a desire. Every exhale of your cigarette affirms this belief and kisses my nose with our family scent: farm-soil-sweat and tobacco. You’re talking about…
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By Buddy Ray Deering The crickets could barely be heard above the knight’s ragged breathing. She thought her heart rate should have slowed by now, but dying does funny things to a person. ‘I’m not dead yet,’ she reminded herself for the hundredth time in as many minutes, her voice little more than a whisper.…
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Harvest Moon By Jess Áine Barry Jess Áine Barry is an artist and emerging writer living and working in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She is a Leo sun, Scorpio moon and Sagittarius rising. She vibes with her rising sign; reading, writing, painting and star gazing before galloping off into the woods. She works mainly with acrylic…