At funerals you get a sense of 'team':
"He bore his burden well"–stifling a yawn;
"She wasn't someone you'd enjoy tea with,
exactly, but–"; "They kept on keeping on."
Each mask that hides a life receives tribute:
"He was adored by dogs"; "She set a tone";
"Behind her drinking lay a golden heart"–
old age become a village of its own.
I was too young; I couldn't comprehend
how deficits increase over the years–
I shunned their ledger-faces for my books,
determined not to end up in arrears.
What will they say of me? "His load was light."
"And for all that he didn't seem too bright."
— James Cummins