Pay attention to your neighbours

At the funeral this afternoon there was a moment of complete and utter silence. The chapel was full of people, standing room only. We'd had the hesitation about who goes first, the shuffling, the singing, the praying, the coughing, the not too unctious address from the diffident vicar. The Lord's Prayer and for Those in Peril on the Sea. Because it was Dancing Sailor John who had died. He who had been a merchant seaman.

Then the moment. Quite naturally out of nowhere. Catching everybody by surprise and lasting just long enough to count. Long enough to register. To look and look away again - Marlon Brando spotting stars. The congregation settled into the space and time stretched. The clocks stopped like in the Four Weddings poem. Time froze and lost its references.

It stood still for us at Caversham Crematorium this afternoon. Saying goodbye to Sailor.