Phoebe Shade

She is a splash of watercolors
dancing across the canvas of spring.

Floating like a feather
on a warm breeze,
she drifts down,
lands on my hand.

She rests,
then lets go.

Carried again by the breeze,
she finds you
and lifts one tiny wing
to wave hello—
the way ladybugs
often do.

Phoebe Shade is a 12-year-old artist based in Austin, Texas, who enjoys working in both digital and traditional media. Her first published works—a poem titled Magic Doors and an acrylic painting titled Stargazing Cat on a Beach at Midnight—appeared in Poems for
Tomorrow, Issue 3 and in Collaborature Literary Journal. She enjoys creating art that blends imagination with real-life experiences. When she’s not creating, she can usually be found listening to records, playing the drums, thrifting, or tracking down the best ramen and sushi spots in town.

This poem appeared in What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On — Winter 2026, published by The Chaos Section Poetry Project. We’ll be featuring each poem from the collection individually in the weeks ahead. You can read the full collection or download a free PDF of the chapbook here.