Funeral For A Poet by Peter Hrastovec

December 8, 2023
Poem title: Funeral For A Poet Poet name: Peter Hrastovec Poem: –for John Ditsky the poets gather in the chapel the most atypical of congregations they take to the pews like survivors in lifeboats sitting their soft asses on hard benches surveying the others taking deep breaths thinking ‘it’s not my turn’ a church pew is purgatory defined an inhospitable space made worse by hemorrhoids a bad back or old age amid their ostensibly endless discomfort they sit and listen to the predictably pious crap about the dearly departed they listen though they secretly desire to rise and shout aloud “it’s inevitable” they sit back musing ‘we know what he would have wanted for us to sing and dance and drink’ and what would he have said? ‘I am not dead I live in my poems and in your stories and in the toasts you will make when you finally get to the damned bar’ the rest of the tale is left for the criticism of lesser mortals who wait their turn in wooden pews and query ‘are caskets made from these same hard woods?’ End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Peter Hrastovec Previously published in Sidelines (Black Moss Press, 2015). Peter Hrastovec is currently the Poet Laureate for the City of Windsor, Ontario. In addition to his writing, he practices law, lectures and, along with his wife, Denise, enjoys the magic of grandparenthood.