{"id":12627,"date":"2024-11-26T19:20:55","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T18:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=12627"},"modified":"2024-11-26T20:44:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T19:44:52","slug":"death-robed-in-a-gown-so-beautiful-so-majestic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=12627","title":{"rendered":"Death Robed in A Gown, So Beautiful, So Majestic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
Image: \u00a9 Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester<\/span><\/p>\n

For my Grandfather<\/em><\/p>\n

In the old elm that crowded our backyard fence
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 a lone magpie cawked\u2014 a woman was wading<\/p>\n

her feet through a water that had found its way
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 into her stead, & she cursed heavily\u2014 is it God<\/p>\n

that allows these things, or some sort of partial loss
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 of hearing we are yet to identify among ourselves?<\/p>\n

There is a reason why I do not allow myself the easy
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 luxury of guilt; I want a daughter who will take<\/p>\n

care of me when I am old, not a son who would run
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 off to fight another man’s war. & Like my father’s<\/p>\n

father, I don’t want to be the man who grieves as the
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 names of his dead roll out before him. I do not<\/p>\n

wish to try to evoke a face to go with the endless list
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 of names. I wish to be sturdy\u2014 a cherubic health.<\/p>\n

I don’t want to lose anything. The loneliness will outlast me.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The night before my grandfather died, I watched<\/p>\n

how languor crept upon his limb. Summer came &
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 vanished the sound of the children’s laughter.<\/p>\n

In his dying bed, all he ever wanted to talk about was
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 prom dates in the 1900s. The girls, long-limbed<\/p>\n

in their long summer-dresses; how he wished he spoke
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 to one of them\u2014 any of them. He shook his head like<\/p>\n

it was coming out of a dream. The sun dipping beneath
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 the horizon. God’s thumb pressing heavily on his eyelid\u2014<\/p>\n

& even in death the flesh is strong; it wants always to go on.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 To give in is to let the pain recede into a darkness<\/p>\n

like a cautious animal. & all I could do was watch the beauty.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The richness & a sheen upon the leaves of the elm<\/p>\n

tree in the backyard. Death, so beautiful as it lies on the
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 soft brown earth, & the grasses wavering over<\/p>\n

the head it has claimed. My grandfather, his fingers
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 loosening & the sheets they had held moved slowly<\/p>\n

& then swiftly across the still body & I watched
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 them fall into the silence of the room.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n

Prosper C. \u00ccf\u00e9\u00e1ny\u00ed is a Nigerian poet. His works are featured or forthcoming in Black Warrior Review, Lolwe, Denver Quarterly, and elsewhere.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image: \u00a9 Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester For my Grandfather In the old elm that crowded our backyard fence\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 a lone magpie cawked\u2014 a woman was wading her feet through a water that had found its way\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 into her stead, & she cursed heavily\u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":386,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[376,425,428,405],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nDeath Robed in A Gown, So Beautiful, So Majestic - The Manchester Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themanchesterreview.co.uk\/?p=12627\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Death Robed in A Gown, So Beautiful, So Majestic - 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