I lived through both tragic references in David Wojahn’s poem and I have been to the Madame Tussaud’s gallery in Niagara Falls.
I remember exactly where I was when the news flashed at the bottom of the TV screen reporting that John Lennon had been shot and I remember watching the news reels of the student protests at Kent State University and seeing the national guards with their rifles aimed at those students.
I’m not fond of Madame Tussaud’s gaudy tourist attractions, but I can understand their fascination – haunting wax statues so lifelike they could almost breathe. I do admire photographers, though, and their ability to capture the moment, however tragic it may be.
I’m posting this today because the horrific photo of the Kent State “massacre” appeared on my FB feed a few minutes ago and just the other day I read the poem above. The cosmos is speaking.
Madame Tussaud’s displays are Art of a sort. John Lennon was an artist. The picture of the Kent State tragedy is considered a classic in photographic Art.
What are the messages here? Are we raising death to an Art form? I don’t think so. I think we have to be reminded, however often and in whatever way, that life is itself a sacred form of Art.