We saw you in your prime/

7 lines of sheer beauty.

I love it.

Hey thanks.  It's good to know someone got as much out of it as I got from writing it.

The corollary to that thought is: you are next in line, for drowning, with your children splashing in the background. Life really does have a sense of humor, it's just sort of different. This was really clever and satisfying.

I'm really glad you appreciated it.  Thanks.  

as the old man gets to the door, he turns back, sees you coming, opens and holds the door, you first sonny.... and washed away is enough to suggest oblivion, take out "utterly drowned" -drowned don't need know utterations to exclaim its finality no ways

wow.  you went back!..i think i like your thinking.  i see what you're saying about "utterly."  but ehhh...i was using the word and its syllables as a rhythmical/emotive effect, and i don't consider it superfluous here.  hmm..a couple months ago, in a thoughtful moment, i was actually going to go back and mark some of my pieces here as "flawed but beautiful"--considering that any piece of writing could perhaps be flawed in some way depending on how it was looked at--maybe i was delusional--anyway, this was going to be one of those pieces.  for one thing, if this is about aging, why does the supposed parent drown slowly, and the children make a sudden splash right afterward?  but actually, the aging parent thing was someone else's interpretation to begin with, as i wrote this piece about a star and his or her fans.  the star dies, and the fans don't know what to do, so they go ahead and end.  granted, that's a bit extreme, but that's what i wrote it about.  and in that sense, i guess it wasn't all that flawed.  but then, why bother with the mention of drowning at all, when i've already said "all washed away by the waves"?  so, there again, this piece could be considered flawed.  but i'll keep it anyway, as it is perhaps, at least in my mind, beautiful enough to keep around at least a little longer.

well, that was an eyeful, wasn't it?