Mortuary
Tim Cunningham reading Mortuary 1070 KB
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This was the room of temporary rest
Between evening’s procession to the chapel
(Those soft vowels of condolence, each handshake
A unique grip, the half-familiar faces –
Tangents to the circle of his life)
And morning’s mass for which he can’t be late.
Deposited like left luggage, his varnished
Coffin perched on two tall trellises,
The brass handles and silver plaque hoarding
Remnants of the light. Above him, the stone
Ceiling; beside him, walls of grey concrete;
Below him, a cold geometry of tiles.
The room of bed without breakfast is changed,
Transformed into a mundane storage space
For Lalor’s beeswax candles, sanctuary oil,
A tarnished thurible, carbolic soap,
Buckets, mops and, in the farthest corner,
A brush and pan for sweeping up the dust.
Page(s) 9
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- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
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- Modern Poetry in Translation
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- North, The
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- Poetry London (1951)
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- Second Aeon
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- Shearsman
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- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
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- Ugly Tree, The
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