graham-fulton-poems | Militant Thistles

from Coronaworld

we go to

our friend David’s funeral

in a cemetery north of Barrhead

there are more than

the authorised number of mourners

but everyone thinks what the hell

we’re going to say farewell

whether they like it or not

death goes on regardless

of parliamentary decrees

panicky proclamations

people spaced well apart

except for the close family

who cling to each other

as real as can be

a mound of earth

beneath a tarpaulin

what a moment

it is to die

we drop roses

into the open grave

they fall out of sight

they’re probably still

falling

there’s a hint of sun

and sometimes rain

Graham Fulton was born on 8/1/1959 in Hampton, England. A poet based in Paisley in Scotland, Fulton has had 17 collections produced in by many publishers including Polygon, Red Squirrel Press, Smokestack Books, Pindrop Press, Penniless Press, Salmon Poetry. A new collection is due from Smokestack later this year. These poems are from a large sequence of 180 poems called Coronaworld written over a twelve week period during and after the lock down.

someone made a quick film

of a young roe deer

with its cute horns

at the junction of

Buchanan Street

Bath Street

at six in the morning

nothing else awake

except a landing pigeon

and the worker who saw it

from the doorway

of Sainsbury’s