"Custom Ceremony"

Dallas J. Bryant - 2008

      John L. Campbell

                                        Dying to Celebrate

              “There’s nothing like the sight of a dead body to assist
              the living in separating their good days from their bad.”

                                          ~Thomas Lynch, poet author, funeral director

I try not to think about my death,
knowing my funeral will be my last
major investment, a poor one at that.

More and more the dead tell the living
how they want their funeral arranged.
These are often customized,
fewer cookie-cutter celebrations of life.

Today, the dead want to be remembered,
as did the outdoor-sports writer dressed
in fishing garb, buried with rod and reel,
a musky lure he designed hanging inside
the lid of a camouflage-lined casket.

When a young biker died, a procession
of thirty Harleys roared ahead, leading a shiny
three-wheeled hearse drawing the kid’s coffin.

At the grave site each of his biker-buddies
tore off one of their jacket patches, placing
each one on the coffin before lowering
it into the ground; after which, they grabbed
shovels and began filling the grave,
the hole half-full before the first beer break.

Before a renowned Chicago gambler died,
he arranged to be buried in a Cadillac Seville.
Propped up behind the wheel of the replica,
his rigid hands clutched a fistful of dollars.
The casket with its gold-plated grill and
four wire wheels coasted to the grave.

Funeral directors see odd behavior,
like the three old codgers each taking a swig
of brandy at the side of an open coffin.
One wiped his lips on his sleeve,
crossed himself, then tucked the half-full
bottle under the deceased’s elbow.

Medieval Device, ca. 1400s

John L. Campbell is a Wisconsin writer who turned to writing full time after his retirement and discovered the intrinsic value of poetry. Some of his poetry has appeared in Ray Foreman's Clark Street Review, Linda Aschbrenner's Free Verse, and Debra Brenner's Annual Goose River Anthologies 2006 & 2007. John’s new chapbook is entitled, Smelling Older. The last three lines of a poem by the same name: only the odor of old money / freshens, sanitizes and absolves / the smell of an old man. You can learn more about what he has accomplished in the past twelve years at his website.


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