Read the winning piece of our 2025 Nonfiction Contest “Through the Mirror” by Jessie Cato selected by Lucy Ives.

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Summer 1949 • Vol. XI No. 3 • Poetry |

The Spring Potomac

Force of the season flashes the bird north,
And the fish shearing up cold currents to spawn.
At that time fishermen stand on the banks of rivers.
Along the Potomac they huddle on every rock
From before light comes till after the light is gone.

A seasonal rite performed in happiness:
Fish blood stiffened on fingers, perhaps, allows
Timbre of friendliness in voices that call
From rock to rock, and voices that fondly curse
The act of their pleasure, there where the water flows.

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