Obit (July26)

More pinching & nagging, the kinda thing that all too often happens to writers minding their own business more or less. One shouldn’t stick one’s nose in there, especially such a sensitive matter. It did stick fast though, through the latter part of morning and again on the bus getting out for lunch. Nagging so much that one was actually forced to go back in the evening to buy another copy of the newspaper. The morning paper was always given away afterward to one of the uncles or aunties interested to flip through; even wrapping paper was better than junking in the recycle bin. (The suspicion here in the Repulic was that all refuse was indiscriminately burnt. The mess people threw into those blue bins made anything else impossible, even were there a real will.) You certainly didn’t want to speak ill of the dead, nor more importantly the grief-stricken bereaved. But, by golly! What the heck was that about? An Obit 4 inches x 6. When photos of the departed accompanied text in the English language newspaper, the pics were naturally flattering. Flattering & super flattering shots of 70year olds, 80yo & 90yo here. One only flicked the pages of course at the tail end of the morning teh. The paper was dealt with summarily of course, esp. Obit Sport, local Pol. (Needs to be said, the paper here did hold quite compelling pieces occasionally, not all of them syndicated. A psychiatrist who had been head of the local Institute was truly first rate, for example.) This particular smiling deceased here was caught at the foot of a curving wooden balustrade, perhaps 10-15 years before her demise. In her pomp possibly a handsome woman. Lustrous dye here, high heels, silver bracelet & good trim. But it was the dress that was the thing. Taste, aesthetic judgement was not evenly distributed at the creation, of course. Rich baby pink, Barbie tone. A mermaid effect was created with ballooned shoulders and tightening at the hips, where a large, flowering rose at the midriff shed petals along the trunk and down to the ankles. One leg swung over the other with the foot mounted made the inverted cone. Lippy, fingers & toes in the same tone. It was only the hands that gave away the age. There must have been a long zip behind; in front the dress seemed pasted on. Gala wear at the upscale clubs, CNY, weddings & the like. The rhyming stanzas attached confirmed Christianity—hopes of reunion, the higher world & eternal life. Even in the case of the prosperity gospel it seemed questionable. And not to say a heart of gold beneath the fabric. Not at all.