NEWSLETTER

This is not goodbye, but a shift in ownership, yes.

Hello friends,

I am sending this newsletter to make absolutely SURE all of you read this latest story from the admin.

In Case You Missed It — Here’s The Big News!

~ love,

Christina M. Ward

POLITICALLY SPEAKING

Both for our country and for our publication.

Hello dear readers and writers for Politically Speaking. I am so glad you are here. What a week this has been in politics, for the United States and around the globe! Change is a’ comin’ to say the very least.

To begin, I am so proud of the work we are doing here at PS to open the doors of communication, encourage healthy political dialogue, and to give voice to many writers who are trying out political writing for the first time. We have a diverse group of writers and readers and we look to continue to develop that diversity. Our followership has reached over 1400 and continues to pick up new writers each week. …

POETRY

a free verse poem

A heart in the dark
learns to be
its own light.

A small word for those who are hurting.
Thanks for reading.

If you want to read more of my work, here are a few others in the spirit of self-discovery and inner strength:

Thanks for reading~

Christina M. Ward,
EIC of The POM

Christina is a poet and naturist from North Carolina. Her work has been featured in the Cameo literary magazine, the Arrowhead literary magazine, Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Frightened Traveler blog, and in Wolff Poetry Literary Magazine. Her first poetry collection organic is available on Amazon.

POETRY

a free verse poem

A house finch, with splashes of rouge
regards me with interest
scoops up a seed.

I am on the other side
of glass. They must see me.

If I crawl in there, sir,
Will you pick apart me?

Please sir,
pick apart me.

Titmouse and Chickadee,
black-capped and free,
Brown-headed nuthatch
clinging inverted to that
basket weave tree, plucking
the millet and sunflower seeds

Please, dear sirs,
I cannot find my wings,
Will you sing for me?

The swoop and dip of the red-bellied
suet-bound and full of purpose,

Will you please, dear sir,
teach me how you dance in the air
how you pick your trees
how you hear the writhing of bugs
and catch the shift in the breeze. …

Ladies, own it. We have to change this societal norm.

Confidence in women. Why is this a testy subject? Aren’t we past all of the feminine self-doubt and on to the bright path of women out there blazing paths to their own successes, unapologetically?

I think as a society we really want to believe we are, but we are, in fact, not there yet.

Confidence: It is Different for the Sexes

Why is it so hard for society to applaud confidence in women the same way it does for men? …

Here’s what you need to know before you write that first word.

There’s no reason to sugar coat this; it’s really hard to write a book. Especially that first book or novel. But it doesn’t have to be so incredibly daunting that the great idea for a novel you dreamed up one foggy afternoon six years ago, can’t be brought to fruition. Because it can! But do YOU have what it takes to write a book? You may be questioning yourself a bit too much.

The idea is there. The characters have been mingling, getting to know each other, playing out various ways of interacting…but it’s all between your ears. So how do you get them out of your head and into print? …

PROMPT

Fishing is one of the oldest metaphors.

There’s a whole lot of symbolism in fish and fishing topics found throughout literature, including poetry. Thoreau, Hemmingway, and even Dr. Seuss found fish to be a topic worthy of great explorations. I, too, have written often about fish symbols within the body of my work.

This POMprompt is simple: write your own poem using any of the topics or symbolism of fish and fishing within the context of your poem, either directly or metaphorically (as in the two poems of mine, listed below.)

Take it a step further and read something classic on this topic — whether a book, a poem, or a few literature quotes. Search for fishing topics right here on Medium and see what you find. Go down that fishing hole and see what you find to inspire you today. …

WRITING

This is not the time to doubt yourself

They are weather-worn and borrowed,
these wings, with the crumpled lacy edges,
moth-mangled centers like eyes,
wide-open for the wind to pass right through

aloft-no more, I think

Well, they must do.
~ Away, Chistina M. Ward

Ever feel like you may have been duped? Like you came, you bought the big idea, the big dream, like a river trout gobbling up the lure? Suddenly, the big dream seems to be swooshing downriver and there you are, hooked and hanging from a string.

Yeah, I did it. I bought it. The whole — write it and they will come — theory. I had big dreams of that one article just taking off. Going viral. Saving my finances from the toilet in which they are circling the drain. …