Reappraisals of Mortality
“After the first death, there is no other.” — Dylan Thomas
The hill is steep
That mourners keep
Descending, canted
To maximise
The keening cries
Of the enchanted
That scorn the promise
Of Dylan Thomas
When he declared
That the deceased—
Their souls, at least—
From death are spared.
At first perusal,
A flat refusal
To mourn seems cold,
But if you drink
Before you think,
You might be sold
On those who went
Before you, spent
Time, and spat phlegm.
One thing is sure:
They miss you more
Than you miss them.
C.B. Anderson was the longtime gardener for the PBS television series, The Victory Garden. Hundreds of his poems have appeared in scores of print and electronic journals out of North America, Great Britain, Ireland, Austria, Australia and India. His collection, Mortal Soup and the Blue Yonder was published in 2013 by White Violet Press.
