from the starry belt of Orion
to the tips of the dandelion,
from the claws of the sturdy oak
to the bullfrog’s throaty croak,
from dewdrops coalescing on grass blades
to lilies of innumerable shades,
from the depths of the sea
to the hummingbird’s melody,
with each sunrise,
each cracking open of the eyes,
does the hope in the heart swell:
the wonder of the world there dwells.
—
Madeleine Bohn is a lover of language based in Madison, Wisconsin. She was the inaugural Madison Youth Poet Laureate in 2022-2023 and the 2023 Youth Ambassador for the Madison Public Libraries’ We Read: Youth Voices contest and anthology. She has published work in various chapbooks, including Love You to Pieces (Angela Trudell Vasquez, 2024) and the 2021 We Read: Youth Voices anthology, and was a finalist for the 2021 We Read: Youth Voices contest.
