It is encouraging to see women embracing their literary gifts. Sponsored by the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs and Mc Intosh Publishing House, talented writer Merlisia Mc Intosh has published her first book of poems, Tales of Pride. The Pleasantville, San Fernando resident, celebrates T&T, depicting a land where beauty abounds and crime is non-existent.

The Ministry of Works employee, who runs her own fashion house, Caribbean Eclypse Fashions and a beauty consultancy agency, Mc Intosh has been writing poetry for some time. Her poem Rainbow of Life—the book’s first poem—she engraved in a crystal glass plaque which she gave as a gift to President Richards earlier this year. She describes T&T as, “one nation with a big heart....no longer a dot, for we are a great significant spinning top.” It is heartening that McIntosh chose to revel in hope than wallow in despair about the headlines that scream at us and foreigners about this country’s crime situation. “The book is to empower our nation to develop a more dignified pride island nation and to finally bring something new to life.” In her poem Preserve Our Land, she calls on citizens to remain vigilant and focused.

“The doers of idleness/Don’t turn your back/shake up those what(sic) are slack/That (sic) causes grief and pain/Even agony and shame/ This is our inheritance/And we must protect it day by day.” McIntosh hopes that her book will inspire other young people like herself to achieve their goals. She has even donated copies of the book to several schools. Tales of Pride may be appealing to homesick T&T residents who are abroad. It does the job of instilling national pride when all seems lost.