Eulogies

She passed
and had the good word spoken
by a hired hand who did not know her
who substituted trivia for his ignorance
The Depression
World War 2
In two score I heard not a word of the war
and less of the Depression

She was shelled peas,
burning twig smell,
an envied garden,
a smile that had seen the ages
and knew their tricks
and could laugh at them.

As we slid away
I had a vision
my corpse in a chapel
afraid to show a cross
and a stranger
at a lecturn
playing trivia.