Funeral Blues 2

by Lis Lee

When I die, don’t sing the usual church tunes,
Want to know what I’d choose?
Please, please, at my funeral
Play me the blues.

Yes, I know I won’t be here then
To hear that irresistible beat,
Tap to a 12-bar
With my dead feet.

Hear slide guitar with my deaf ears,
Feel rhythm in my still heart,
But you will, so please,
It’s the blues as I depart.
At my funeral, play me the blues.

(Note from Tom Bryan: We did play blues for Lis at her funeral in Melrose, 15 October 2021. The title refers to W.H. Auden’s poem Funeral Blues. I found this poem in her final papers)