Rituals of remembrance,
so weary, so salty-sweet.
Beside an open grave,
someone says words
about a dead man whose
corpse lies in a manufactured
box nearby. The memories
of him will never be riper
than they are now. No one
will think to recall him after
a few months, it not days, if
not . . . Even at the moment
how many listeners are
thinking of other things,
or wondering what the point
of funeral services is? "Funeral
services" has the ring
of American assembly lines.
That's all right. The frail,
exhausted nobility of mournful
practices preserves their worth.
They're respectfully absurd.
hans ostrom 2019
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