�April Fool�s Day�

For Joyce.

Thankful that the clouds part for just half an hour
They appear to let through a burst of hidden blue
There’s someone smiling down over this crematorium
Just in time for their tears to fall and glisten on their black clothes
We stand, we sit, we don’t know where to look, we stand up again
We sing “All Creatures Great And Small” and I suddenly feel their pain
Then she slowly disappears while he reads the Lords Prayer
We all slow shuffle outside to look at shaped wreaths and massive bouquets
They line one by one to shake hands with long forgotten family members and some complete strangers
So I stand by myself on a path in the Garden Of Rest far away from everyone else
The clouds have now closed
But the heavens have opened
A sign that they’ve let her in?
Or just a bad omen?
I look up and down and wonder where is she now?


 

Reviews

[Marlton]

Captures the weirdness of a funeral perfectly and the way in which we seek a private sign from the missing person we love in the midst of public ritual, as if they were still there to wink at us or pat our knee as they turned to greet other people at a party. Great stuff.