No Job in Boneyard

Wander the lonely boneyard
Speculate upon the dates
Ponder the similar names
Read the poetic eulogies.

Who was that extra name?
Relation? friend? or lover?
All at peace, all quiet
Save for the crow’s raucous call,
Toll of bell in church tower
Rust screech of lych-gate.

So what was their work?
Who the manager?
Who the menial?
All that fret and toil
All lost to worms and soil

No jobs here to see
Just name, just dates
Like a skeletal CV
Etched in stone, tablet hard
But no jobs in our boneyard.

Martin Delemare
30th November 2008