Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Obituary


In the newspaper of my life
You were headline news
And the reports that followed
Were the stories we told
Of daily routine
And swims in the sea
And promises kept
Laughter shared
Tears we wept
They made the front page
And pictures of you
All over town
A billion copies, every one sold
You were not tossed out the next day
Crumpled and worn
To line a birdcage or wrapped around some delicate glass
Some person bought on sale
Instead framed
Archived
In a precious vault
In the newspaper of my life


Instead
We got two lines
Under
‘Deaths’
Alongside classified ads
For used cars
And money for sex
And missing pets
Two lines
For which we paid
To tell the world
That you were loved
That we, your family
Filled with grief
Would miss you so
Two lines
To some up
Your life well spent
No mention of the mountains you moved with your little finger
The way you laughed at all our jokes
Your passion for old cars and collecting junk
Your dreams of sailing around the world
Your love of theatre and old books
Your impossible temper
Your endless capacity for forgiveness
In two lines half way through
The stories of politicians and violent crime
Our small obituary
Inadequately expressed
Nothing more
And nothing less