Final Respects At A Random Funeral Poem by Vihanga Perera

To your funeral I come and I bring no words
And it is better so, for silence greets me
And grieving faces in my nostrils search
A mark -if not a snot -of identity. Uncertain,
Unknown, a woman her palms together brings

And I return that greeting with a solemn bow
And walk up to you, where in that
Dark corner of resigned dismal eternity
Gloved fingers tight kissing -as if dead in love -
You stare at the sky eyes closed, cold; and now

I pause before you - - solemn, vacant and slow:
I cut hard the figure of one who tries hard
To hold back the tears dying to flow.
I almost thought my lip to bite, but changed my mind:
More than they should, the people watching should not know.

It is a Buddhist house, at least the flags are white,
So, I take half a step from you -pause -
And cross myself up-down, left to right.
With a final look at you, for when I turn I will see no more,
I turn around and slowly past them all, out of sight.