Mountain View cemetery revisited in the Springtime, is a paradox almost surrational, as if it was a Surrealist conceit. A sprawling manicured sculpture park for the all but entirely forgotten and the totally forgot-- a landscape built on the grandiose narcissism of robber barons and on the humble grief of ordinary people.
Famous internees include Frank Norris whose novel McTeague looked at corruption in a city not far away, in fact visible from here. Here lies as well the remains of the murder victim known sensationally as The Black Dahlia, presumably in reunited form, perhaps a corset of some sort.
Naturally it is more appropriately atmospheric in the dimming light of Autumn. There are quite a lot of recreational visitors during Unholy Week around Hallowe'en and the Day of the Dead.
But it is a another green world of wonder in April and the metaphysical 3-D chessboard feeling remains vividly intact.
1. The Thanatopolois
Once upon a time you could get a nice place
To wait for the End of Time
Married for all eternity
Landed members of the post mortem gentry
You don't get to choose your neighbors
Good taste is timeless
The church of one's self
Should the earth itself be destroyed in flame
Let no one in this world disturb my bones
Mine is the biggest
Flowers grow from the roof of a tomb
A glimpse of fellow Earth Day folk frolicking
Pivotal Mount Tamalpais in the distance
Heaven is in your mind
(that doesn't mean it's not "real")
2. The Marginal
This old tree has a noticeably odd personality
You get a little eerie living here, I suppose
This can't be good--I remember a viable pond here full of birdlife
I suspect that they are filling it in for more burial ground
Grave desecration....you hate to see that
And it's Easter time too
In years gone by, the birds frequented this lower pond
Neglect may predict a fate similar to that of the red pond above
These trees were here for two long centuries
Watching the dead being buried by the living
3. Final Thoughts
I don't need no mansion on a hill
Maybe a little cottage in Hobbiton
where I could rest for ever and ever
In a nice quiet neighborhood
A happy ending for all
Earth Day, 22 April 2014
