SCRIBBLERS INN

Walking through the cemetery I keep stopping to stare at the
letters on the tombstones, They suspend Grief – they are the Art
of Grief.

If print speaks as gently to your heart as blood flows softly
through your veins you will understand why I stop to read, and
read again.

The lettering is simple, respectful, dry-eyed and in golden
balance….a restrained sans serif as quiet on the white stone as
anything Eric Gill ever put on paper for London Underground. And
incised with an angel’s delicacy..

To each of his valued clients the stonemason gives a generous
package of his renewable stock of grief. He uses good,
industrial Black and Decker and, for important commissions, a new
quarter inch drill point.

When his own time comes to ‘lay his tools to rest’ he too will
expect his fellow masons to apply their art in a manner
consistent with their professional dignity and his family’s
munificence.