Lighting Lena

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/4583442.Gypsy_wake_closes_Sussex_road_for_two_weeks

Kai zhal o vurdon vurma mekela
Where the wagon goes a trail is left.

Butjis¹ burning she left us
Not to be remembered by her material possessions
Free from the things of our world
She would have cried of grace if she had seen the flickering shadows
Of the fire dancing across her familiyi’s² faces

I weaved some grass and watched
Her trunk crackling and caving
Mattress disintegrating
Me voliv tu, it whispered, Me voliv tu³

We buried her feet first
Standing 
For she lived life on her knees before God

Life’s Story

Life’s Story

a stranger’s dog
chained up outside a white, square house
awoken from a midday nap
by an unheard sound
bounding towards the invisible
only to be jerked back
after reaching the end of its leash