Buttercups and Fingernails
Buttercups and fingernails
Sandcastles made of raw sewage
Beautiful flowers arranged
At funerals
Or the side of a road.
Perfectly crafted cupcakes
Glistening with maggots
In the sun
Teddy bears and chocolates
Tributes placed at the feet of
Mangled pushchairs.
Vultures delivering babies
Children’s drawings hanging in prison cells
Wedding rings floating in toilet bowls
Christmas puddings baked by dying men
In hospital wards.
Christening parties for the stillborn
Collection cups for businessmen
Bedside manners and mourning clothes
Victory parades and celebrations
For the murdered and the maimed.
Coal miners coughing up blood
At a birthday party
Wedding anniversary ruined
By sudden heart attack,
Husband sprawled across the table.
School projects made of cancer lung
Stuck to canvasses
Memorial service halted
By aneurysm anguishes.