in a room with 20 people
dressed in suits and dresses,
one is notably quiet and still
and quite dead as they lay.

hours before, someone
in a presumably cold
and sterile room carefully
worked their magic.

using the same foundation
and blush as attending in-laws,
in an attempt to make
the dead living once more.

in this backwards place
where survivors are victims,
positives can be as elusive as
the answers to impossible questions.

so though strange, it was
not entirely awkward
when my dad turned and said
"he looks pretty good".