Tributes

“My lover's got humour, she's the giggle at a funeral. Knows everybody's disapproval, I should have worshipped her sooner. If the heavens ever did speak, she's the last true mouthpiece... ”🎧

"He was to us one of the kindest, patient and peace loving persons. Father was a gentle soul who taught us to be prayerful and encouraged us to confide in him when we had issues. He was a provider who put our needs first... ' The reader choked audibly and somewhere in the masked group of family gathered around her, there was a responsive sob. One of the other girls rested her head on her sister's shoulder, hiding her eyes and trying to muffle the sounds that threatened to come bursting out straight from the belly ; a wild cry of... pain ? Or mirth.

“And I say to my Ophelia, ' God gave you one face, and you make yourself another' ” Hamlet

Like the misleading facial paintings of an artful woman, are the words of this tribute I hear. With the painstaking care of a make-up artist, do the bereaved apply themselves to couch out heart-rending narrations of their sorrow and remind the living of the goodness of the departed soul. So I ask, with a slow smile that lights up my face, 'Is it really? He was that... good? Wow' Fact is, I don't believe you. I don't believe in polishing misery because there is a dead body between those who experience it. Now I'm not doubting the possibility for the words of a tribute to be all true. It's just that upon first reading it, I asked, ' Did they Google this?' I know people do. But it's not their fault. _They're truly lost for words_ (chuckle) I will not write you 'The Tribute', no. I will present to you a life story as I knew it, not as they want to hear. You were no fun to be with. But we have found our entertainment in the pain and strife you caused. There are no grudges, just fond memories of hilariously painful series and sets of embarrassments. The Tribute spoke of a stranger they had longed to know, and whom they had encountered never. *PS*: Don't ask me for an eulogy, unless you think it's worth it. _*junebug*_ photo credit. https://www.pexels.com/@karolina-grabowska