Passing the Cemetery in a Train 28 Years Later

throw yellow roses
on your coffin, long, smooth, polished sheen
              maple, insignia
of the country we have come to

throw yellow roses
on your coffin

you, dead inside
you, body

dissolving

throw long-stemmed
roses, fresh, soft perfect petals, sun bright

on your coffin

as it slides
into the fires

             as if death
             were a passion

of the flame

_
In memory of my father,
Dr. D. Richard Clews, 1922-1984

Written in Toronto, May 25, 2012



image thanks to Corrie Barklimore on Flickr