On a bright, sunny day on the village street
a solemn procession makes it’s way, a man
in black walks ahead of a gleaming hearse,
with its flowered guest on his last journey.
Numbers of old friends line the route past
the school, and the houses of neighbours,
watching the small mourning party, tied
by the rules, with masks in a silent car.
Goodbye to a friend of eighty five years,
father, grandpa, and neighbour as well,
known to so many, a builder by trade,
and at the pub as a domino player.
Into the graveyard, beyond the church,
the funeral procession proceeds; to lay
him to rest with his wife in their plot,
he’s the last of the domino team.
May 2021