2026 Myths & Fables Prize THIRD PLACE WINNER: “The Pillars of Creation” by Osmani Ochoa

This poem is a dazzling act of reinvention, where technology, music, drag culture, and biology converge to imagine creation as an act of radical transformation. Moving between the cosmic and the intimate, the mechanical and the organic, the poem reclaims the machine as a site of possibility, placing brown, nail-polished hands at the controls of an entirely new beginning. Through vivid imagery of Tejano soundscapes, digital rebirth, and the regenerative power of the axolotl, it celebrates the resilience of queer and Latinx expression, where identity is fluid, creativity is an act of resistance, and survival becomes a form of creation. Pulsating with rhythm and vibrant cultural references, the poem builds toward its exhilarating final gesture: La Cumbia del Comienzo—a celebration of rebirth, belonging, and the power to imagine a world anew.