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Tony Conran

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Haibun - The Funeral

Victor Neep (d. 1979), painter of derelict industrial Gwynedd, lit by the moon; of abstract still-life, portraits of jagged sculpture-like forms; shaper of terror and wit; sculptor of savage birds and warriors from the detritus of machinery and slate.

All the riff-raff of Caernarfon and Waun Fawr, painters and jazz-guitarists, poets, spongers for a drink, an eisteddfod bard, even a solicitor who’d bought some paintings once – we were all at his funeral that clear January day. I threw my clod of cold earth and heard it rattle on the coffin. There was reassurance in the ordinariness of the sound – minimal, but enough to make me almost cry out loud, “O my man, my man.” We wandered around the graveyard trying to be near to each other, but at the last minute avoiding contact. Many of us were old acquaintances because we’d loved him, but now we’d probably never see each other again, or be awkward and unsure if we did.

                           Under the silver sky
                                    Ghost of a half-moon –
                                             A hall-mark.

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