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Animals on The Day of a Burial
Herons explore new flood fields
red kites patrol the hearse road
up Suffering Hill
old and young
the two tongues
kin and friend
at the end
crows cosy up in creaking conifers
to watch the never ending pantomime
the rise and the fall
of the curtain of life
the labour of lowering
the strain of the load
released
the denizens of the soil
will accompany you
on your journey from person
to depersonalisation
our endless recycling
our cheated Valhalla
of heroes without faces
of valour without bloodshed
later when routine resumes
a surprised mouse looks up
from among kindling
in a black plastic bin
before escaping me
you
our families
the others
I should point out that the accompanying image is of my late father's ship, HMS Ocean, at a time when he would have been aboard it during the Suez Crisis. Though it doesn't necessarily "go" with the poem, I feel the need to include it to highlight the different trajectories of successive generations.