Valkyrie

If only we knew then what we know now... Given the choice, I choose disgracefully!

I feel like I want to cheer right now

Thanks, Gary. I'm glad you liked it. I hope we keep on winning for decades to come

Thank you I'm glad that line spoke to you.

Thank you so much! I always like it when my poems make people think.

I loved this story. The use of the podcast was unique and it worked. And now I want cake.

There was a fairly recent court case in the US where the plaintiff had to pay millions of dollars because of the lack of an Oxford comma. I'm totally team Oxford when it comes to commas!

Reunion We decided to postpone our annual weekend – August instead of July. It’s always been July, but, you know how life happens, schedules conflict; there’s always an excuse not to. Forty years ago we started what became an annual tradition, an anniversary of sorts, to celebrate friendship and pick up the pieces after diagnoses, divorce, and loss. We never expected to say goodbye to one of our own, especially not one week before our specia

Sometimes I embrace the gray and give a middle finger to the sky as I dance in the rain. Other times, I scowl at the stranger in the mirror, remembering less pounds and wrinkles; sleepless nights easily remedied with an extra cup or two of coffee the next morning at work. Now caffeine is the cause of insomnia instead of the cure. I stopped shaving years ago and don’t give a shit when it makes other people uncomfortable. There was a time when I

Sometimes we have to embrace what life throws our way, whether we want to or not. These two poems are a tribute to aging and the losses that inevitably occur, and how we deal with both.

Thank you, Myr, Cia, and all the admins and staff throughout the years for working tirelessly to keep GA updated, current, and the amazing place it is. Here's to another twenty years! 🍾

Thursday is Anthology day, so the next batch will be posted on Thursday. There are four batches total, so we have three more weeks of new anthology stories

BTW, we'll blow the new story goal out of the water, just from anthology stories alone! I'm beyond thrilled that we exceeded our 20 story goal. Readers are doing an exceptional job supporting the hard work of our contributing authors. We've only just started, and the number of comments and reviews are fantastic. So thank you all again - readers, authors, poets, editors, beta readers for all your incredible support to make this an anthology to remember!

I finished reading them last night 🌟 I hope that wasn't a wildfire outside your condo The smoke from the wildfires even reached the International Ring in Spruce Meadows I'll tell my penguin assassins spies to be more careful next time. That was very clumsy and inept of them to destroy your closet like that

For a minute, I was wondering if we had made @Carlos Hazday's story go live instead of yours Seriously though, this highlighted the current situation in the US perfectly. We're living in scary times and, as you said, we need to get out and vote and hopefully turn the tide. As for the tone of anthology stories, they definitely do not have to be light and feel-good. I've written some pretty dark stuff for the anthos. As northie said, the story takes you where it takes you. Thank you for sharing this with us and including it in the anthology.

All the takes on the theme have been pretty different so far, which is really great to see. Even three years later it seems pretty clear that Sawyer and Josh have the same attraction to each other. Hopefully this time they won't wait so long to see each other again. Thank you for participating in the anthology!

What Adi said. I don't have anything to add to what's already been said by all the other commenters. Another well-written, emotional piece. I really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing such personal and heart-felt poetry as part of the anthology

Very well done! This poem showed brilliantly the process of realizing a relationship is toxic and then telling the abuser they no longer have power over them. Abusers and narcissists are master manipulators who, unfortunately, make it easy to fall for their BS. Once those glasses disintegrate, it's liberating, but also quite understandable to question what you ever saw in them. Nothing shocks a narcissist more than to be called out on their behavior. I love how the narrator in the poem finds their courage and stands up for themselves. I think this is one of the most powerful lines in the poem. The violence in the end was absolutely justified self-defense. The abuser tried to stop the narrator from leaving, so defending himself to get out of the situation was totally warranted. Celebrating the anniversary of gaining freedom from an abusive relationship is something to be commended. This poem is raw, emotional, and ultimately triumphant. Thank you for sharing it with us

No theme, although for a while I went with names starting with A. Alex and Adam were my first two cars, followed by Adam 2 (I know... not very original, but they were the same color, make, and model ). Then I went with Simon and my current vehicle is Drogon.

I really liked the descriptions of the pond and the woods and the personification of the wildlife. You showed us the nature of the boy/hare without explicitly telling us, which worked nicely. It's a shame that 'progress' is measured by the destruction of nature. The desolation of the once-beautiful woods that held such memories for the boy was heart-breaking, as was the discovery of the dead deer and hare. I was really hoping the hare had somehow escaped the fire. It was also sad to see the boy living in one of the condos at the end, instead of out in the woods as he initially desired. Thank you for sharing this story and participating in the anthology!

This is a lovely story of remembrance. Cars can have such a special place in our lives and evoke fond memories. As a kid, it was always a big deal to name the car when we got a new one. It's still the first thing I do when I get a new car. I really enjoyed this story. Thank you for participating in the anthology!

Speak for yourself

A fitting tribute for an incredible woman. The whole world mourns her loss.

She was the epitome of grace and a true servant to her people. She was also an avid horsewoman and patron of horse sport. She did a lot to preserve endangered breeds and promote horsemanship. I mourn her loss with the rest of the world.