[Jerry Glenn Hartwig]

I pick up on this as a metaphor for dying, with a suggestion (probably colored by my knowledge of Mew) of suicide (the face that wasn't always kind / the willingness or eagerness to skate down the river/ smiling as she comes toward Death).

Leaving the moor and the road for a place that's cold and wind-blown, yet beautiful; and in the closing lines to find - above Death's smile (a skull's smile)- the eyes are actually kind, therefor dying's a kindness that offers forgetfulness of life's unkindness.

Interesting play on the River Lethe, where Death is not a ferryman, yet assists the journey - not with a boat - but skates; still, offering the same benefits. No Eleysian Fields, but a frozen river in a lavely setting, and Death becomes a companion.

Not generally a style I prefer, but I find I'm quite taken with this one.

Thanks, Mary, for posting it.



[This message has been edited by Jerry Glenn Hartwig (edited December 21, 2007).]