Mourners Leaned Against Their Cars
by Larry Pike

―Coronavirus restrictions prohibit mass gatherings,
impact funeral attendance. (April 2020)

A sparse crowd wasn’t the graveside service
my friend’s father wanted after ninety-three years.
Another viral insult, the smattering of mourners

leaned against their cars, squatted on headstones
or shifted in open grass safely distant from the family.
Colorful masks protected faces nodding sympathies

in lieu of handshakes and hugs, oddly unsatisfying
remembrances. Sounds of road repair blocks away
interrupted recordings of hymns. A rooster’s alert

quavered on gusts that fluttered dewy branches
and carried few of the minister’s words. Perhaps
just as well. Some might say this was a sign.

Instead of a splendid throwdown, the old codger got
let down by the handful scattered across the grounds.
The preacher assured everyone the deceased knew

where he was going in the next life – fair consolation,
I believe, for this life being so unpredictable, clever
mischief throughout, bait-and-switch at the end.

Image: Stuart Buck is a visual artist and award-winning poet living in North Wales. His art has been featured in several journals, as well as gracing the covers of several books. His third poetry collection, Portrait of a Man on Fire, is forthcoming from Rhythm & Bones Press in November 2020. He is the art editor for Konstellation Magazine and available for commissions all year round. He can be contacted via Twitter or E-Mail

Larry Pike’s poetry and fiction has appeared in The Louisville Review, Seminary Ridge Review, Caesura, Exposition Review and Vitamin ZZZ, among other publications. He has work forthcoming in Jelly Bucket. He lives in Glasgow, Kentucky.