Jeri --

(Once again, I try to reply -- first time, I canceled instead of sent, second time, aol shut off on me 'cause I was taking too long :::sigh:::)

For the record, I really like the campfire image -- not confusing at all -- it's a concrete, "everyday" image that nearly everyone is familiar with (if they haven't sat at a campfire themselves, they've seen it in the movies).

I went back to part one and reread the whole song... and I noticed that that line

One stands apart, on hushed and shadowed path

is the only one where the singer isn't referred to in the first person (me, myself, and I). I find that I fall into with certain lines in my poetry and essays, usually when the emotion or conflict expressed gets stronger than I'm prepared to deal with. Which is a big signal to me that I'm really "on to something".

~~~

Meanwhile, I'm sorry about the Orpheus thread drift... I've been interested in mythology since I can remember, and often forget that this is not common knowledge for most folks...