“he is survived by his wife (and children”

He is survived by his wife (and children
barely rate a mention. But they in turn
are survived & loved by other people

who do not die (but turn up, oddly, just
for a little while, at the end. Just as long
as you survive you can be sure that

His wife and children (survive him but he,
unfortunately, does not. In fact, he dies.
He does not survive his own life. Rather,

it survives him, in another form. A body?
Of sorts. Someone else’s body. Plurals.
His bodies survived by those of his wife …

And children (have heard that one before.
That’s right, just before they survived him.