"A man dies ... only a few circles in the water prove that he was ever there...."

"A man dies ... only a few circles in the water prove that he was ever there. And even they quickly disappear. And when they're gone, he's forgotten, without a trace, as if he'd never even existed. And that's all."
-WOLFGANG BORCHERT

Sunday I spent a good couple of hours in the largest cemetery in Indianapolis. It’s actually, probably the largest in Indiana… in any case, Crown Hill Cemetery, it’s huge.

I went for the sheer purpose of photographing statues of Mary, angels, Jesus… just statues in general really. I actually have this idea/project that I’m thinking through and working on here and there.

So, I drive in, and… although I don’t believe necessarily that I found the cemetery at 1 in the afternoon to be “creepy”… there is just something that’s eerie about cemeteries, no matter what time of day it is. I also felt silly, because I was coming for a purpose not having to do with the deceased at all. It was more like a scavenger hunt. I would see across the field if tombstones, a statue, and come up on it, photograph it from all angels, and then in the distance see another one that looked equally as fascinating and head off in it’s direction.

One of the first statues I found was one of Mary, holding onto a cross. It turns out it was actually pretty popular because I seemed to find new versions of the same thing throughout my time in the cemetery, perhaps holding the cross on the other shoulder, or a different size, but a popular idea nonetheless.

I got my camera all set, and start taking every angel of this statue, when I spy on the left side of the cross, a lump of some sort. Upon closer inspection, I find the left over shell of a cicada clinging to the cross. Because I have another project going on, my first thought was “fabulous!”…. but as I reflected on it later walking around and realizing exactly what I was walking around in, and watching people drop off flowers to graves of their deceased, I thought how appropriate it was.

The cicada, when it sheds its shell does not die instead it just moves on to a different stage of life. But much like a cicada who leaves its mark, the cemetery was in many ways the same thing. The statues, and tombstones they were all put up in remembrance of an individual who has passed away. Their bodies might still be there, but their soul, and their beings are no longer located with their shells. They have moved on to different stages. Depending on what you believe, that could be heaven, hell, or perhaps they just cease to exist, in which case my cicada analogy does nothing for you. Inevitably though, the cicada shell is broken or eaten or disintegrates. And then there is nothing.

Hmm… not a perfect analogy, but [shrug]… I’m not a writer, so it doesn’t have to be perfect [smile].

*mrt*