deeply touching, Bill, but I have to mention how at moments I intuited wrongly -
I had a silly notion that while still alive the dying man saw the coffin ordered for him!
as if this was some old peasant world indeed.
The canary in the funeral service is a striking metaphor but for me distracting resonance.
Because death was 'he' at the start, I take a moment too long to grasp that the later 'he' is
the human 'in full glare'…?
Max
On 04/07/2012, at 8:06 AM, Bill Wootton wrote:
> Death in the room,
>
> all glossy and brass handled,
> perched mutely in the corner,
>
> sees nothing of what has been organised
> around him. His cool varnished face
>
> deflects eyes straying there
> or braving his long, carved lines.
>
>
> Invoking no god, they celebrate a life
> of tireless exploits, of qualityfulness.
>
> Images of open-toothed smiles and cheeky grins play;
> his pre-war sepia self dances on imaginations,
>
> blends with tales of his non-judgmental recent ways.
> A hall full of appreciation and restraint.
>
> Shuffles, while a sound system hiccough is righted.
> My canary, eventually, has circles under his eyes.
>
>
> Suddenly, he's in full glare, half hoisted
> hip high, gliding into the bright afternoon.
>
> Shoes shift-slide on gravel; yellow roses
> land on his shiny self. Now he's ready,
>
> wreaking sunny tears from the living.
>
>
> Bill Wootton
|