Death and the Good Citizen
I know, you told me,
your nightsoil and all
your city’s, goes still
warm every morning
in a government
lorry, drippy (you said)
but punctual, by special
arrangement to the municipal
gardens to make the grass
grow tall for the cows
in the village, the rhino
in the zoo: and the oranges
plump and glow, till
they are a preternatural
orange.
Good animal, yet perfect
citizen, you, you are
biodegradable. you do
return to nature: you will
your body to the nearest
hospital, changing death into small
change and spare parts;
dismantling, not decomposing like the rest
of us. Eyes in an eye-bank
to blink some day for a stranger’s
brain, wait like mummy wheat
in the singular company
of single eyes, pickled,
absolute.
Hearts,
with your kind of temper,
may even take. make connection
with alien veins, and continue
your struggle to be nationalized.
beat ,and learn to miss a beat,
in a foreign body

The speaker engages in a conversation with someone, possibly a modern city dweller, who describes the disposal of human waste (nightsoil) in the city. The waste is collected by a government lorry and taken to municipal gardens where it serves as fertilizer for the growth of grass and oranges. The speaker emphasizes the efficiency of this process and the contribution it makes to the natural world.

The speaker refers to the person as a “Good animal, yet perfect citizen” and highlights the biodegradable nature of the individual. The poem then delves into the modern practice of organ donation and the dismantling of the body into spare parts, contrasting it with the natural process of decomposition. The eyes, for instance, may end up in an eye-bank to be used for someone else’s vision.

The speaker expresses a sense of irony in the modern approach to death, where the body is dismantled rather than decomposed like the rest of humanity. The poem suggests that this modern citizen, while efficient and contributing to society, deviates from the natural cycle of life and death.

The final stanzas introduce a comparison between Hindu and Christian funeral practices. The speaker expresses a preference for Hindu cremation, where the body returns to nature. The poem concludes with a reflection on the desire to be connected to nature after death and a critique of the mechanical and artificial aspects of modern death practices.

In summary, the poem critiques modern approaches to death, emphasizing the contrast between natural decomposition and the dismantling of the body into spare parts. It explores the themes of nature, identity, and the impact of societal practices on the natural cycle of life and death.