response-4, cremation, Hoshi

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

        

 I will be attending a funeral today

The deceased, a man in his thirties

Mother said he was a distant relative

‘You met him once, when you were five’

Mother overestimated my intelligence

I could barely remember myself, when I was five

At his wake, most people struggled

To say something about this phantom man

All everyone talked about was

The instructions left for his funeral, by him

It specifically said he wanted

His ashes to be dispersed in the clan mountain

We were all Christians

Used to a ground burial, no one was burned

But the family agreed to honor his wish

So they gathered lumber, lots and lots of it

As we did not know

How much we would need

The body was put in a coffin

Covered in wood and gasoline was poured

It took four hours

But all we could smell was cooked meat

The body refused to turn to ash

At the end, his step brother was left to watch the fire

Many were nauseous, so was i

I decided to leave, when I heard the brother mutter

 ‘Your bones refused to burn               N rou rei tou mvü bei   

When we set fire to the flesh’              We mei  n shü the shü rei

‘Who would have guessed                   Sopuo nyü sei tuo mvü

 You’d be so stubborn to death?’         No ha kesie nu rei Khrü phi zo