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Poems from Moss Rich

 
 
 
     
    THE ART OF GRIEF

    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.