Not everyone can meet the funeral director
just my sisters
and an older brother
‘obviously you can’t all sit together’
she says, ‘so you need to decide, if you can,
some kind of meaningful seating plan’

There follows a rather snippy discussion
about who does or doesn’t
warrant a place on the front row
because as these things go
proximity to the coffin
is the funereal MacGuffin

There are so many of us it’s sticky
and a seating plan proves tricky
‘I could put a couple more chairs out – that’s fine
but there are just too many of you for one long line
especially when you consider significant others’
my older brother shudders
(always reliably fractious)
says his significant other’s a cactus