northie

Hope you allow yourself a really Happy Birthday!

What an excellent prospect! Some angst and drama is good... The only thing I'd suggest (on a side issue) is that you should promote these story topic threads in your stories. Many people don't know that these threads exist.

What an unexpected pleasure! There we were, relishing our hot chocolate with cream and you add a dollop of marshmallows. Is this the end, the final, final end? Thank you, Quinn!

You should be able to read three words here. I can see about two and a half ... and going cross-eyed in the process.

I love the way that the almost rhetorical opening three lines are balanced (answered) by the last line. Very effective.

It's partly a question of inclusion but also in many cases a question of being able to access appropriate mental health / emotional support services. The fact of not feeling part of a community is likely to cause some problems but it needs a very significant level of mental and/or emotional fragility to cause someone to respond in such a devastating, frighteningly inhumane fashion. The fact that doctrine / religion / radical tracts might be part of the mix only makes any such individual that much more unpredictable and liable to lash out without regard for the consequences.

A wonderful short. I was suitably impressed by how you managed to fit in all the necessary words. I particularly loved the creativity you employed to get over the large animal and the blue coat. That would have never have occurred to me, which is probably why you're a writer and I'm not!

Dispelling the English baroque gloom - excellent idea!

I loved reading this story. It was like peeling back onion layers, gradually being given information and connections while still being aware that things, important things, remained hidden. Selfishness and selflessness in the abstract are two distinct things. When they come together to form two sides of the same coin they are anything but. This clash provided the emotional core. Was it coincidence or fate that meant that her son's boyfriend was the means of the mother casting off her bitterness at her husband's actions? It doesn't really matter: it was an emotionally satisfying climax to a very cleverly constructed story.

I'm so pleased this poem had such an effect on you. 'Loving and yet removed' Yes, it is so obviously an outpouring of immense grief and desolation at the loss of his soulmate - highly personal in one way yet the lack of any anchors by way of personal details, time or geography, makes it a poem which also has universal meaning. The poet spends so much time not speaking of fixed, mundane, earthly matters but rather of the soul, identity, and of the afterlife, I can understand your feeling of 'flying'. This, I think, if nothing else, makes King definitely a metaphysical poet.

Thank you, Emi, for taking the time to read and consider these two poems. You join Parker in preferring the Hardy. Yes, poetry about love is all around us - personal experience of love (good, bad, indifferent) is common so being able to draw on that experience to produce poetry is similarly abundant. War is something else. The sheer number of people exposed to the realities of war during WW1 must have been a significant factor in the flowering of poetry during that time. Generally, war is a rarer subject for poetry. Hardy was writing in the years just before WW1 (see my correction post) and voicing views which were definitely not those of the Establishment. There again, Hardy was used in his novels to expressing thoughts, emotions, and situations which the majority of English society found difficult or unacceptable.

Correction to my description of the Hardy poem: it is a poem of the period immediately prior to WW1 when there was a rapid escalation of arming and preparation for war. Sorry, left it too long to correct my original post.

Thank you, Parker, for finding the time to read both poems. Of the two, my favourite is the King. I remember that what first drew me in was simply the title: so poignant and heartfelt. The Hardy - your quote being followed immediately by 'Mad as hatters' gives such a strong impression of Hardy's view of things. I'm glad you enjoyed them both.

Xiamen, China (What's the matter, Drew? Has someone stolen the shiny, again! )

I love 'people watching' and if I see someone at a regular time in the same place (a cafe or other public space) it's quite easy to start wondering a little about them. Romeo appears at the outset to be in roughly this position but it quickly comes apparent that he is far from being detached in his observation. His unrequited love and how it is resolved is a lovely, humorous, 'will he, won't he' romance. Although it was perhaps obvious where the story was going, the journey was sweet and a pleasure to read.

I've taken up AC's kind invitation to share one of my favourite poems with you although you're actually going to get '2 for the price of 1' … Thanks to AC for allowing me to stretch the point a little. Quite some time ago Penguin Classics issued a sampler on the theme of 'Night thoughts' with a selection of poetry, fiction, essays, and play excerpts from their back catalogue. This slim book introduced me to all kinds of things I'd never tried before. Both of my choices come from there. Henry King An Exequy to his matchlesse, never to be forgotten Freind http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/exequy-his-matchless-never-be-forgotten-friend This funeral ode dates from the early C17. The poet is addressing his wife but he doesn't address her as a woman (with all that meant at that time) but more as his soulmate and life's companion. The version the link takes you to has had the orthography modernised. Thomas Hardy Channel firing http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46544 I hadn't read any of Hardy's poetry before I came across this. This is a poem of WW1 but it is not poetry of the battlefield, more a response from those left behind in 'Blighty'. I have no idea whether these are already known to you. I hope you enjoy them and I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about them. Either post here or PM me (or indeed, both).

There are - at the edges of your vision some of the dots appear black. When you move your eyes to 'see' them, they disappear. That's why, as Drew says, it's impossible to do.

Wow! A complex, dark, violent story packed into so few words. Not a tale for a spot of light reading, but it had me gripped pretty much from the off, reading closely while also dealing with my own emotions concerning abusive relationships and the whole area of bdsm. Friendship was another theme which sparked off thoughts as I read. Is murder ever justified? The answer here is certainly, Yes!

I started to read this and then got distracted (I'm easily distracted ). There's just too much good, inviting stuff here So, I must exercise more self-discipline in future...!

My last paragraph included you as much as anyone else, Parker.

I was reading this thread yesterday not quite understanding what was being discussed, then I read Cazpedroso's blog post this morning and it became so much clearer. I would buy this compilation from a strong sense of obligation but to have it contain contributions from some of the authors I admire here only adds to the reasons to buy. The proposed contributions from AC and Adi take my breath away. This is as good a place as any to say the following: I look on in wonderment at your creativity (poetry, prose, whatever) and your hard work. My primary reason for joining GA was so I could respond to what I was reading and have conversations - both things I'm really enjoying. [exits through side door ...]

I'm disappointed ... I'd been looking forward to you ranting!

Congratulations on your first complete story! It has been a pleasure to read: romantic, funny, the right amount of dramatic tension, and very well written. I had been hoping for the conclusion this week, being in need of something to lift my spirits. What's next?!