Cremation Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Cremation
A man was running to the tobacconist,
Bought a packet and hastily opened it took out a cigarette
Lit it and inhaled deeply.
Then his head moved backwards, and he fell and died.
They covered him on a plastic sheet but the cigarette
Was still burning, the layer took fire, cremation.
The fire spread a house was burning the fire engine came
Spayed water and the ashes of the smoker disappeared
Down a drain.
They opened the drain found some black stuff and a shoe
That might have belonged to the cremated, well it
Was something, enough for burial, and what nowadays
Is called closure.
The tobacconist took this as a sign from Good only
Sell the angel's dust.