Traveling through the dark by William Stafford

In Traveling through the dark, the speaker addresses the grieving process in an abstract way.   Driving along a narrow, dangerous road, the speaker encounters a recently killed deer.  The driver knows that it is safer to move the carcass than it is to swerve around it and risk hitting another animal or causing a fatal accident.  As the speaker is moving the dead body of the deer, he notices that the side of her body is still warm.  He realizes that this is because the deer was pregnant, and "her fawn lay there waiting, / alive, still, never to be born" (10-11).  In this description, the speaker is showing how this encounter means more to him than just seeing a dead animal on the road.  He stops and almost grieves as he hesitates and is unsure of what to do.  However, time is passing and the speaker realizes he cannot wait there forever, which the reader can tell by his describing how the car is still running: "The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights; / under the hood purred the steady engine" (13-14).  He then pushes the dead deer and her trapped fetus into the river.  This encounter symbolizes the grieving process of losing a loved one.  One must first face the issue, coming to a realization that the person is dead, as seen by the person stopping his car and assessing the situation.  Then, one can grieve and face his loss, as seen through the speaker hesitating and looking into the deer's condition in more detail.  In the end, however, life still continues, much like the running car waiting to move on to the next adventure.  As a result, one must let go of the past, try to put aside the death, metaphorically pushing it into the river, and continue on with his life.