Secrets, Scrawls and Strays - And Other Virgin Verses, by Ronald C. McGilvray, in his debut collection, takes one on a poetic journey into a marriage of the light and dark, and their gray offspring that populate the lonely corners of a world of color. Secrets, Scrawls and Strays delves into the past, present and future of characters off the grid or just plain off. It's an album of snapshots of the downtown desperate, the lost dreams of dreamers, while tossing in a generous dose of drama and a degree of whimsy. Secrets, Scrawls and Strays, the poem, speaks of the day in the life of a couple of ghetto lads and a fate of which they are blissfully ignorant. McGilvray's poetry has been called both thought provoking and poignant. In Art Lasts, Cup Of Dreams, Drawn, The Dancer, Hallowed Playground and Into Love, Into Light we see a much lighter side of his darker verse. Mixing chocolate with McGilvray's peanut butter, or visa versa, Simoni Gruber's stunning illustrations are a magic match to McGilvray's way with words. Gruber, a tattoo artist living in Athens, Greece also debuts her fine art form on a new medium. The illustrated poems of Secrets, Scrawls and Strays is a great idea and a perfect fit.