15 July 2011 Volume: 21 Issue: 13 North Korea's ... - Eureka Street

Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011the gardener in her liked the thought.Now her son is buttering parsnips in a eulogy:Val’s generosity, her merry laugh, her cooking.Awful to think of her lying in that polished box,plump though somewhat wasted.It’s a mercy, someone’s bound to say,yet tearful Bill may not agree.Mercy should have operated eighteen months ago,when we prayed for an end to it all.The Lord is my shepherd, and next thing we are walkingthrough the valley of the shadow of death,Val’s death, then it’ll be Bill’s, and soon enough, my own.Lo! I tell you a mystery, says the reader,We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,at the last trumpet.Beautiful, especially when sung.Yet I doubt if she’ll enjoy that trumpet blast.Turn down the volume! she will demand,and as for being made imperishable,she didn’t believe in stuff like long-life milk.I couldn’t fault the Vicar’s homily, except for being bland,one thing Val was not accused of.Death, where exactly is thy sting?The words lull me gently, and the music too:a grand-daughter playing solo flute,and we sing Val’s favourite hymn,©2011 EurekaStreet.com.au 38