as the dew falls
the family play cards—
in the graveyard
Many people thought that this might refer to a day of the dead, (Dia de Los Muertos), when families go to visit their deceased relatives and make a celebration of it. I very much like that idea.
The real story is this: I come from a HUGE Irish family, most of whom now live n South London. We had an annual card game at Christmas. Mostly it was played by my uncles and aunts, their cousins and Irish friends. Now my father and a number of my uncles are dead. They are nearly all buried in the same graveyard, within metres of one another. When I’ve visited them all, early in the morning and the grass has been damp with dew and a sort of haze hanging over the church yard, I can imagine their ghosts having a get together, playing cards, smoking and drinking whiskey. Somehow that idea cheers me up.
