Death mask

What is it about being dead that makes the dead LOOK dead? I have observed so many dead people, dead animals in my life and they all look lifeless. It's not a look one can conjure up or fake. Death is a breath that has left the body and on closer inspection, the body is a mere vessel. There is almost a comical aspect to the dead body- this pigeon seemingly has luscious feminine lips. My own father in death looked the happiest he had ever been in his life as if he were GLAD to be dead.

Death is not a subject that anyone wishes to discuss willingly and without a gallon or two of alcohol inside of them first. Like God, death eludes our understanding. We can't make sense of something that we don't have any knowledge of.

One of my dog-walking mates is an undertaker and he looked particularly knackered when I saw him after Christmas. The holidays were the busiest time ever for him- customers keeled over on Christmas day in record numbers as if the turkey was particularly awful that day. My own beloved uncle died on Christmas Day in 1977 of a massive heart attack brought on by too much festive food and drink.

This pigeon met an untimely end after I would think, being hit by a car. I found him nestled alongside the woods, . The hound wanted to eat him. I wanted to take a picture. Had I been a bit more bloody minded, I would have taken him home and made a pigeon pie. A sort of composting, if you like, of the dead.

Photos copyright SvD.