GRAVE MATTER

carved into a simple stone tablet
the inscription in poorly spaced capitals
reads thus:

in loving memory of
maurice watton
dearly loved husband of hilda
and father of derek
passed to fuller life
27th may 1977
aged 75 years
also
hilda mary watton
dearly loved wife mother
and grandmother
passed away
24th april 1995
aged 92 years

it is odd to think of their skeletons lying six feet under
the coffins positioned one on top of the other
the ground has subsided a little since nan's burial
as has the earth beneath the gravestone
leaving the crude base exposed
dad and i place a wreath
and reminisce:
i am eight years old
i watch grandpa watton sleeping in his armchair
his chest rising and falling with each breath
i think to myself
how old and frail he looks
how easy it would be for him to stop breathing
and a year later...
we take a turn around the cemetery
and unearth a whole area devoted to muslims
buried back in the fifties and sixties
their gravestones covered in swirling arabic characters
unlike their western counterparts
their inscriptions show no concern for time spent on this earth
but feature instead the deceased's village of birth
all of the burial plots in birmingham have now been taken
perhaps that's something else we get china to do for us
many of the newer graves are gaudy
black marble with gold leaf inscriptions
some people merely have a small plaque
with a little drawer containing their ashes
fitted with several others into bollard-like structures
that stand incongruously in the middle of the path
on up the hill by the old crematorium
some of the older graves have collapsed
their crosses lying in fragments on the cold ground
at first sight some look like they have fallen prey to vandals
but more likely they have been reclaimed by nature
the victorian and edwardian graves are elaborate
winged angels raise their arms aloft towards the heavens
it strikes me that gravestones present something of a design challenge
the modern ones are mainly functional and dull
where they have tried to do something different
like carving the stone into an open bible
the effect is kitsch
the victorian angels are attractive but a little over the top
i decide that nature should have the last hurrah
a tree with a small plaque below it
no toxin-emitting cremation
or rainforest-depleting hardwood coffin for me
a quiet woodland burial in a cardboard coffin will do just fine
yours morbidly
diesfree
x