Overwhelmed
For RS
They are running out of timber
in India – six hours is needed to
burn a body [thoroughly] – New
Delhi coughs on weeping smog
& added plumes – All liturgy cut
& numbers over-take those able
to count beyond fingers – Beedi
smokes can kill – Rob recalled a
woman who died without cash –
[her grandchild wrapped-up by
rags to her cooled chest] – Cost
about four quid – back then – he
he said – to burn your dead – on
a suitably-high pyre of wood – A
small price he paid for his Beedi
roller’s grace – He wears a mask
these days on London’s streets –
his cancer could re-ignite in him
[he’ll avoid] – Common decency
is a game run by those we meet