Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

As always, some wonderful writing on the site this week, a very welcome antidote to the winter weather.

Story of the Week is Simon Barget's 'Us and Them'. There's a lot of snappy answers being offered to things going on in the world at the moment, but this piece offers thoughts on the heartbreaking complexity, nuances and stumbling humanity of it all. The deep sadness of the final paragraph stayed with me for a long time. Thanks to Simon for writing it. Us and them | ABCtales

Poem of the Week is Ed Crane's 'Black and White Survival'. Its atmospheric description of birds' endurance during the harshness of winter, together with the hope for spring, has a particularly crystalline beauty. Black and White Survival. | ABCtales

This week's Inspiration Point is here: Inspiration Point: Writing Cues To Battle Writer's Block | ABCtales

Hope everyone has a good week!