​Last Requests

I want to be buried

In my black velvet dress

Fake pearls,

Sell the real ones

Winged eyeliner

Eyeshadow to match

My lifeless complexion

Heels — black

Open toed

Painted nails

Deep burgundy

Hair slightly curled

Eyebrows filled in

An open casket please

For all to see my beauty

One last time

Don’t cry for me

Instead speak

Tell me how wonderful

I was

For I never got to hear it.

Alana Palleson is a teacher, writer, and poet originally from Hawke’s Bay, Aotearoa. She has performed original poetry at Common Poets Society open mic nights in Hastings and at Nevertheless, and her nonfiction has appeared in The Spinoff. She is currently working on her debut memoir. Last Requests is her first published poem.

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