Last Rites

Grey drizzle, puddles, umbrellas from the car
(Hot sun, baked earth, parched crop)
Black hats, black ties, black hearts
(Burnt umber, blood red, bleach white cotton)
The creaking pedals of the organ
(Heart-beat drum beats)
The coffin slides and doors glide shut
(Flames blaze up and crackle)
Silent, tight lipped, hanky crushed
(Wailing, weeping, lashing)

How much easier it would seem
to throw your body on the loved-one's pyre
(swift agony of flame and float away)
than to go home and pull the curtains
and make tea.