Jane Annable

London

Jane Annable lives in London. She has been writing poetry for about 25 years, recently with online support from Poetry Kit. Her poems are cameos of daily life sometimes with a wry slant. She enjoys experimenting with set forms and has self-published 4 poetry booklets for family and friends.

Two Poems  11th April 2020 Planning my funeral    1st May 2020 Let there be Candlelight

Poem completed 11th April 2020

Planning my funeral

I have been planning my funeral for years:

Beethoven sonatas, a hymn, a prayer,  

a loving send-off to heavenly spheres

with friends and relations moved to tears.

Yet somehow my drafts were never quite there

so I’ve been planning my funeral for years.

Now Covid-19 dominates our fears

of untimely death: I dare not prepare

for a loving  send-off to heavenly spheres.

The world’s in lockdown till this plague disappears:

I crumple in terror, I crave fresh air.

I have been planning my funeral for years

not prayers and sonatas no one hears.

Loved ones are barred from end-of-life care

so no loving send-offs to heavenly spheres

just lying in a chain of anonymous biers

solitary clones in a viral nightmare.

I had been planning my funeral for years,

there will be no send-off to heavenly spheres.

 Poem completed 1st May 2020

Let there be candlelight

For Mother on the 1st of May

One day a year, today, your birthday 

I’d light a candle in the church, 

or maybe two if there were only tea lights,

and watch them flicker with my breath.

The flames cast shadows on the smooth 

stone Madonna and rainbow rays 

would illuminate the altar window. 

We were at peace. I did not pray.

To light a candle on your birthday 

is a soulful act I can’t explain.

There would be 107 candles lit

if I could bake a cake.

Today the church is locked. No peace. 

No candlelight. The world is in despair. 

But you would take it in your stride:

There will be candlelight next year,

you’d say. All will be well.