Is it okay to plant one on a passed-away one, to smoochie the bouchie of a corpus not-so-delicti, to do it to a deady, to have at ‘er with a cadaver, to kiss a corpse?
If it is okay, under certain circumstances, what circumstances would permit such a thing? And how far should the kiss go? Where’s the line between a tender ‘good-bye’ and an unrequited, passionate ‘hello there’? At what point do you go from ‘survived by…’ to ‘Hello Dolly! Fancy a cold, stiff one?!’ ?
I’m not going to tell you what my idea of ‘too far’ is for a corpse kissing any more than I would tell you to back it off a bit if you kissed a breather (unless the breather is me) but I would guess that if you keep it brief and tongue-free, you should be pretty safe in most situations.
Neither my culture (UK-Canadian beige) nor my religion (Anglican/Catholic Lite) forbid me from kissing the cheek of a departed loved one, so at least my places in society and Heaven won’t suffer because of it — at least until I do something stupid and get on one or the other’s shit list.
So, based on my personal experience, it’s okay to kiss a corpse when it’s your father and you’re saying good-bye for the last time. I gave Dad that last kiss on the cheek twenty-six years ago this week. I would have done the same for anyone I cared so deeply for that the ache of their absence can still periodically flood back after more than a quarter century later.
TO SUMMARIZE: It’s okay to kiss a corpse:
- When you love them.
- When it doesn’t violate any of your (or the corpse’s!) cultural or religious mores.
- After the body is prepped for viewing OR on the battlefield after the deceased gave their life to save yours.
- When you’ve stopped crying, so your tears don’t mess up the corpse’s make-up.
And that’s all for this week’s morbid “How To”. Aren’t you glad you asked? *L*
Ciao for now.
Tim.
P.S. Miss you, Dad.
(Next Week: How to Catch a Rabid Squirrel (and why!)
Words & Images Copyright Timothy G.M. Reynolds
The Tao of Tim 
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