Issue 11.1 Fall 2015

11.1 cover image

 

About the Author

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in New Plains Review, Perceptions and Sanskrit with work upcoming in South Carolina Review, Gargoyle, Owen Wister Review and Louisiana Literature. 

 

Dear Funeral Director

 

John Grey

 

Close the deep curtains,
awake the pale lights,
clear away all colors

 

other than somber,
unleash the soft thread
of organ music,

 

plant wreaths all around
that cold texture of a face,
the solid roan of the coffin;

 

the mourners are waiting outside,
a pall in the shape of a line
of the living,

 

all dressed to match
what they're about to see,
a man's shell in a box:

 

dead arms folded;
keep a decent distance,
look as sad as if

 

you knew the guy,
or you're not sure
how the family is

 

ever going
to pay for all this.

 

 

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