DEATH OF A COMIC ARTIST

DEATH OF A COMIC ARTIST
C. B Donald

They find his final strip still incomplete

with deadlines on the table for this week;

pen still gripped in white-knuckled grasp,

slumped while drawing in a comic gasp.

A junior staffer imitates his hand

so only fans can spot the difference,

and they’re too young to understand

the effort they buy for their sixpence.

Readers giggle at those last hi-jinks:

the desperate closing moments of his Dan.

They never quite discern that his last words

are filled in by another, lesser, man.

It doesn’t bother eager readers,

torches beneath midnight sheets,

that the ink is still wet on his obituary.

Description: Attached to a grille at ground level next to a seat in the Howf cemetery beside a cracked and foul smelling downpipe.
Geotag co-ords: 56.462026, -2.972386

Date: 08.04.14