Christina M. Ward

Preparing a poetry collection.

Gathering Them

I am gathering them,
snapshots on a line,
puzzle pieces,
building blocks,
roots.

Together.

Individually, yes, strength.
Each a painting, a break in
the timeline of my life,
a check mark.

But, together…

Together they say something bigger.
Together they are a timeline.

Snapshots become an art gallery,
puzzle pieces, when placed,
begin to lose their lines of separation,
a picture forms.

Building blocks form a bridge,
one to cross over into epiphanies.

Roots intertwine and feed our souls
up limb and out our branches
to each leafy finger grasping sun.

Together,
they are better.
Together, these poems
are my book.

My book, is me.

I am gathering them,
assembling them,
birthing them all over again
into one,
my fingers, my face, my hope
in the sun.

I am compiling my first poetry book. It is an act of faith.

Faith that others will want to support me and own a collection of my work — I promise, it is better than the quality of the above poem, which is little more than a bit of nonsensical rambling from a tired poet who promised to write a poem every day of the month for POMwrimo. (POMwrimo is a current event going on in my Facebook group for Poets from the Medium platform.)

The new book contains some of my best work, and a few poems that no one has ever seen before. (Yes, A World Without Butterflies is in the book.)

To say that I am excited is to barely brush the surface of this experience.

To all you poets out there — believe in your work. Honor your work. Never, ever give up on your work.

Christina Ward 💗 is a poet who has a lot to celebrate tonight. Poetry is one of them.

So blessed.