MacGreg

I've only ever been a cat person (my family had cats, my roommate, my partners). Never any dogs in the picture, which is purely circumstantial, I have nothing at all against dogs. I feel like I've missed out on something, but my current cat thinks she's a dog anyway. It would be very sad to witness my cat's passing because she's my companion (greets me at the door every day, nuzzles with me on the couch, steals my chairs whenever she can, lol) but I'll gladly love her for as long as I can while she's here. There was a feral cat who hung out in the yard for a few months, and we started giving her food, and she was the sweetest thing. We didn't know her for long before she was hit by a car in front of the house, but her passing was devastating all the same. We buried her in the backyard, underneath the tree she loved to lounge under. Lol, now I've made myself sad...

I love the "beginnings" to each of your four stanzas. Everything feels like a fresh start. To me, that's what Springtime is all about, so it's fitting (at least from my perspective) for you to post this poem in April. I look forward to reading more of what you write for NaPoWriMo!

A little wine to help blur the lines... Mmm, a very sensual poem indeed.

Congratulations to the winners! I enjoyed reading everyone's contributions. They were all great! This was a fun project.

The contribution from your story is the best. A post-cum walk through the grass, followed by murder. I'm hooked.

The man in the underwear sounds appealing, but not with the subsequent blood and gore. Unless you were just watching CSI on the TV...?

Perfection.

From my poem Cinched In: Intermittently, I catch glimpses of the mile markers on the road, Reflective signs that denote the distance To a destination still unknown. And then the murders begin.

It's good to start with dialogue. It jumps right into the middle of a scene, and I appreciate that. These are great.

That seems to fit perfectly in there, northie!

"Love you" followed by "And then the murders began" is an awesome beginning to any story. :-) Your Spring Anthology opening is equally awesome.

This one definitely had me laughing! Those cats can be conniving !

Gary, these are all great. I'm glad you picked several to share. The Morningstar one seems especially fitting; the Treading Water one made me laugh.

That makes for an ominous beginning, all right. ;-)

I saw this floating around social media today and thought it would be a humorous exercise for GA authors to participate in. http://www.boredpanda.com/and-murders-began-first-line-book/?page_numb=1 "The opening line of a book is extremely important, as it has to be intriguing and powerful enough to capture the reader's imagination. Then, the second line has to intensify the intrigue. Coming up with these lines can be pretty difficult, yet one writer came up with a second line that would almost always heighten the intrigue to its peak, and the Internet is going crazy. "And then the murders began" - that's the clever line Marc Laidlaw came up with. Add it to almost any opening line and you've got yourself a hell of an intriguing book opening." So here's the exercise for you: In the comments, write the first sentence of one of your GA stories or poems, followed by the second line of "And then the murders began." I'll start with my own contribution, from 'Backstage Tryst': "I rubbed nervous palms across my denim-covered thighs, trying once more to exhale the breath which remained stuck in my throat, unable to escape. And then the murders began." I look forward to seeing yours!

I'm with most everyone here that claims to be befuddled by math but enthralled at your ability to create poetry from it. I know that math is integral to art, and so it should be integral to poetry as well. There's meter to poetry - that's mathematical, right?

Both poems had my pulse rising. First the dance of love, then the act of love. I love the last line of 'Tango': "I'll offer you my countermove." One person leads the dance, the other person follows, but this dance isn't over until you've had a chance to show your partner a thing or two. In the second poem, you do just that. Two great poems, that seem to go hand-in-hand.

Sometimes, when the pressure's too high, you just have to breathe through it and let it roll off your back. That's kind of where Ben's at at the moment. Whether he can continue to do that will be the test. Katy is not off the hook yet, and more truths will be revealed. Thanks, as always, for your comments, Lisa! Cheers - Mac

Hi Graeme, thank you for your thoughtful comments on this chapter. I wanted to show that, despite circumstances and the short time they've known each other, Travis and Ben have already made a significant impact on one another. And yes, rather than retreating, the outing of Ben has made him a little more determined. However, you're right that outside forces could prove to be difficult. It's like test upon test with them. Thanks again for reading and following along. Cheers - Mac

Even without reading the title of the first poem, I thought that it embodied the act of (no, the art of) creating poetry. A poem about writing poems, the place those poems have within society and across the universe, and how poets can exploit emotions, both and good and bad, from the inner core of themselves and also of their surroundings - this is a riveting theme. You're right that to a poet (and writers of other forms) words are indeed like brothers, like lovers. We scheme together with them. We manipulate meanings and form the words into the messages we want to portray, and they, in turn, satiate us (at least, that is the case for me...) 'Paranoia' expresses real and honest emotion, and I felt it deeply as I read it. Too many of us have experienced betrayal, loss, jealousy, frustration, anger. The things that make us crazy, the things that make us want to do harm. Finding another point to focus on in those situations can begin the healing - usually. Hope that's been the case for you.

tim, as always, your writing feels honest and real. This little moment in time for Hugh and Evan held a much larger meaning than the short story told. From your descriptions of the characters, to the setting of the park and their interaction together, I felt like I understood events and personalities that fell outside of the parameter of the immediate scenario. These two men, published author and aspiring poet, share an intimate bond, and it's instant and it's gratifying. They are like kindred spirits, blown together by the wind, meant to meet, meant to have that conversation on that day. I know that Hugh's compliments bolstered Evan, who clearly needed to hear them, but simultaneously, Evan uplifted Hugh by giving him a sense of wonder back, a sense of what it's like to be un-rushed and unburdened by the hectic schedule of his book tour and to just be immersed in the personal creation of a written piece. The mention you made of Hugh's hand being cramped and sore in the beginning, to me, perfectly reflected his weariness and a desire to slow down. I think it felt good to him to return a grassroots discussion about the art of writing with Evan. Maybe he saw a little bit of himself in Evan, and that's why he felt so drawn to encourage him and give him his contact info. Okay, I've clearly rambled on here. But that's what your writing inspires, tim... Thanks for this little gem. If you continue on with the story, all the better.

Thanks, Geron! I'm happy that you're still popping back in to read a chapter or two when you can and taking the time to offer your insightful comments. Yes, Ben had quite the quandary going on at the dinner table. But Travis is definitely the person he had his sights on, no matter what else was going on. He made that very clear in the little bathroom when the lights turned off. Thanks again, buddy. Cheers - Mac

Graeme, how did I miss responding to this review? Sorry, my friend. Thanks for writing it oh-so-long-ago. I think you know now how some things progressed after the dinner party. Thanks for reading and responding! Cheers - Mac

Larry, yes, the revelation of the story in the tabloid magazine is a shocker for everyone. The point now is how to deal with it, which is where the next set of challenges might arise. Even so, Ben and Travis have a fairly strong bond forming. It's still new, and therefore tenuous, but sometimes love can be strong enough. We shall see. Thanks for being so supportive of this story, including in the forums. It means a lot. Cheers - Mac