I'm enjoying this series, Stacey. It could be I'll have to get this book and read it A-Z as I did so long ago with The Larousse Gastronomique. Reading proverbs always makes me feel fat. Reading true riddles always makes me feel insane and angry. But I like the 'idea' of a riddle, and am thinking that the best short stories . . . are perfect riddles.

I've never seen a Pure Poem, I never hope to see one, But I can tell you, anyhow, I'd rather see than be one! :)

I'm pretty sure, myself, that there is no answer. But there is the telling, and the telling well and fully (or as fully as one can find at any given moment of time). Thank you for the telling, with admiration for the bravery to do so. I wonder, mostly, in this piece of the story - about the teeth. How she lost them. Whether it was poverty or whether it was illness or whether she simply couldn't find it within herself to care for herself by caring for her teeth. I also remember my mother's teeth in a similar way.

Going skiing involves hot chocolate, doesn't it? I may take it up someday. ;) Enjoy! Karen (who is not sure if she's linked to typepad correctly or not . . .!)