Thursday, October 25, 2007

Funeral

Poefusion has a prompt called Friday 5. It's a set of five words, around which you are invited to write a poem.

Tricky.

How will you last until they’ve laid the stone—
impatient, checking timepieces, both clock
and watch. If that’s your attitude, go on
and leave. The relatives won’t die of shock.
Would it be disrespect? Perhaps, or not:
it’s truism to say the ceremony
benefits the living. Really, what
good does it do to stand there with that phony
look of grief? Go home. Take off the suit.
Say farewell on your own time, in your way.
Taste slow regret, eat honest bitter fruit,
consign the memories to slow decay,
and play a mourning march on drum and fife.
It makes no difference to the afterlife.

The words were: attitude, timepiece, ceremony, stone, afterlife


If you like poetry, check out the weekly prompt site at Totally Optional Prompts

7 comments:

poefusion said...

What a surprise your visit was today. Thank you for sharing such a nice poem and using my Friday 5 words. Your poem is so true. I would rather have one person who was sincere in their visit to my funeral than to have many who weren't. Again thank you for sharing your work. Have a nice night.

Michelle

Jo said...

eat honest bitter fruit,
consign the memories to slow decay

This is very good.

Anonymous said...

Really excellent poem, and so true to life and death. But what were the five words?

Ya Haqq!

paisley said...

excellent sense of reality... great take on the prompt.. seems as tho we all went to deaths door with this one....

little wing writer said...

how perfectly written...funerals are always so...interesting...death a companion who comes too soon...

J. S. Clawson said...

How true it is, that was awesome. Thanks for sharing and great job with the Friday 5

J. S. Clawson said...

How true it is, that was awesome. Thanks for sharing and great job with the Friday 5