Sean Hughes' Poem About Death Is All The More Poignant Now

A poem written by the comedian Sean Hughes has been recirculating on social media, following his death at the age of 51.

Sean died on Monday (16 October), having been admitted to hospital after suffering cardiac arrest, leaving the comedy world in mourning.

Since the news broke, his thoughts on the subject of death have now been reposted on social media, from a poem he wrote as part of the collection ‘Sean’s Book’ back in 1994.

In the poem, simply titled ‘Death’, Sean discusses his hopes for his funeral, remarking: “I know how boring funerals can be.

“I want people to gather… meet new people… have a laugh, a dance, meet a loved one.”

Sean was best known for his stand-up comedy career, but also served as one of the original team captains on ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’, as well as being the creator and star of sitcom ‘Sean’s Show’.

While comedians including Jason Manford, David Baddiel and Sarah Millican have all paid their respects since his death, his former ‘Buzzcocks’ co-star Phil Jupitus also posted a poignant statement.

Read Sean’s full poem, ‘Death’, below:

I want to be cremated

I know how boring funerals can be

I want people to gather

meet new people

have a laugh, a dance, meet a loved one.

I want people to have free drink all night.

I want people to patch together, half truths.

I want people to contradict each other

I want them to say ‘I didn’t know him but cheers’

I want my parents there,

adding more pain to their life.

I want the Guardian to mis-sprint three lines about me

or to be mentioned on the news

Just before the ‘parrot who loves Brookside’ story.

I want to have my ashes scattered in a bar,

on the floor, mingle with sawdust,

a bar where beautiful trendy people

Will trample over me… again

Taken from ‘Sean’s Book’ by Sean Hughes.