Name: Oregonian (Signed) · Date: 02 May 2019 05:17 AM · For: Chapter 1

Written for the Slytherin May EvS Review Battle, Team Emerald.

 

Hi,Hayden,

 

As I read your poem over and over, I like it -- a dispassionate expression of the inevitability of death, the common fate of all mankind, the gateway through which all of our ancestors have passed before us.

 

This poem is not actually a frightening or disturbing image; Death is simply doing his job.  We should not take it personally, because He doesn't.  And there's no point in calling "Mercy, mercy," because when your time's up, it's up.  Since no action can prevent it, we shouldn't get worked up about it.

 

Of course, one might counter, "That's easy for you to say," but the mention of angels and heaven suggests that it's not such a bad journey to take, after all.

 

I appreciate the fact that your language is poetic but plain.  The meaning of the lines is apparent without a lot of guessing or supposing.  I looked up your reference to The Book Thief.  It's interesting that in literature Death is so often depicted as a sentient person/creature, not merely a process.

 

Thank you for writing.  I always enjoy seeing what people do with poetry.

 

Vicki