may the angels lead you into paradise

the
funeral
was
held
at
st cecilia’s
in
oakley
a
glistening
may morning
full of the smell
of lilies in the ground
and in the spray
atop the coffin
riding silently
behind me

i was
pleased to be driving
my favorite cadillac coach
through the quaint
not quite hyde park
this was
long before
blue manatees
swam
in
bookstores there

it was your
routine funeral
requiem mass
liturgy
for a layman
just before
the sanctuary door
remember
the feet go in forward
however
if it’s a clergyman
who has passed on
he goes in
head first
because he
was rite with god

the casket was draped
with the white pall
Profundis De
intoning
sacred water flung
the tenor bell tolled
then begins the
processional lightly marching
toward the crucified savior
of the believers

we dutifully
dance with the deceased
as we make the sign
of the cross
before the altar
genuflect
and leave
him to god

gravitas is my favorite latin word
the glorious sequence
Dies Irae
then the responsory
Libera Me
and I think jesus,
these catholics
know how to put on
a show

half the church began
to cough and gag
as our father
went overboard
with the censer
i began to fear
holy smoke detectors
but the service
proceeded
normally

the goal
angels giving
him a lift to heaven
i knew he made it
to age 66 and i wonder
what sort of fella he was
judging from the size
of the unmoved crowd
not much of one
more incense
and holy water

In Paradisum
is sung
all his wrongs forgiven
back down the
aisle we go
and that’s
when i saw her

the wife
chief mourner
wearing a smile
and a bright
red dress
the merry widow
that day
we
all
heard
her message
for
the
masses