He weeps.
His head is tilted backwards,
his hand rests on his forehead,
the fingers too light to make a fist.
His eyelids are shut tight,
his lips are slightly parted
It seems as though he is about to fall
but he seems unaware of that; also unaware of the crowd
that surrounds him.
There are more than two hunderd people in this funeral
and they all look exactly like him,
except for the mother and the father of his friend:
They do not weep heavenwards
but look to the ground.
Their eyes are not shut
but look straight on, and then down,
following the lowered body of their son.
The father's hand forms a white fist around the shovel he holds
To throw sand, to cover his son's grave.
The father's lips are shut. No sound comes from him.
The parents stand. They will not soon fall to the ground.
One hand of hers holds one hand of his
and the crowd, stumbling around them,
becomes at once still.
The jewish tradition commands
that the eldest son say Kaddish on his father
when he dies:
Ceremoniously the eldest son praises the name of the lord
and sends his Father's soul to heaven.
Here and now
The father says Kaddish.
Ceremoniously he praises the name of the lord
and sends his son's soul to heaven.
The words he says are spelled forward
But the meaning is Satanic,
is backwards,
for the process should have been the other way around.
The Father grasps it slowly, with every word.
He soul runs inside. Backwards.
His hand slips from The Mother's hand,
His fingers become loose, drop the shovel.
His eyes shut.
His hand, trembling, is raised to his forehead
His head slowly tilts backwards.
His lips part, and suddenly two people rush to hold him
as he falls.
He weeps.