Sue Moules
The Undertaker
The daffodils are bright through the window,
in here the corpse is candle-white.
A touch of rouge to make him seem more real,
he is ready now to be viewed.
Embalming fluid is distinctive as the taped music,
the sombre tone, the boxes of tissues.
The breeze catches the daffodils, buffets them around.
A child kicks a football along the path,
as I did all those years ago
dreaming stardom, of scoring the vital goal.
Out of the lying-in room with its dead body
into the dark office and paperwork.
The stark documents of death
oppose the passion of soccer,
being lifted on the shoulders of fellow players.
Instead I carry coffins, corner them against my bone.
Always in the dark, I follow the old profession,
its dignity of stone.
Page(s) 52
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