Whose choice was the poem? Presumably not the deceased or someone who knew them well. In my experience the successful funerals are those where the deceased had strong religious views and had specified the who/what/where/how of the service in some detail. Conversely the non-churchgoer gets a run-of-the-mill default funeral conducted by someone who never knew them and has all too obviously mugged-up on their life before coming out with some trite clichés about the person and perhaps some pop music and poetry designed not to offend anyone. I've attended too many of those and they leave you feeling ... nothing.

I'm still trying to convince myself it's not creepy to plan one's own funeral. Where I live, a Woodland Burial Ground has set up shop, and so that's one decision made. Also, I have created a 'My Funeral' playlist on my iPod.