Speaking in hushed tones,
About things no one cares about.
Platitudes and cliches:
“There, there, by and by”

Covering up the ugliness,
With half truths and exaggeration.
Rewriting history, erasing memory…
“Be at peace, peace be with you”

Droning voices and incense,
The rituals and traditions,
Offer the bereaved no comfort.
“Dona eis requiem. Amen”

In a box lined with silk,
And into a whitewashed grave,
We commit our “beloved”
For whom we gather here together.

But whose rottenness is more,
Than decomposing flesh,
It runs completely to the bones.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Header Image: detail form Garden of Earthly Delights: Hieronymus Bosch; The Gates of Hell

A poem for Tanya…