Monochrome Monday – Weeping Angel
Don’t even blink.
Today, knowing that I still needed a shot for Monochrome Monday, Lisa made the most fantastical suggestion to visit the cemetery for a photohunt. I had an entirely enjoyable half an hour wandering around, snapping away. This angel (it was huge – larger than life) was one of the most beautiful grave markers I saw.
I also wandered into the soldier memorial section of the cemetery – I’ve lived here all my life, and never been to that part of the graveyard, which is a little sad. The walled section that holds the plaques commemorating soldiers from 1916 to the present day is a little like a maze, or a walled garden, but without the flowers or shrubs. It’s clean-cut orange brick, neatly spaced bronze plaques, scattered red poppies tucked into the wall and green, neatly clipped grass. The sun was shining, the day was warm and the silence was just about tangible. I decided then and there that if I lived closer, I’d spend a lot of time there, just to read a book or some equally quiet pastime - it was so peaceful and serene, and just a little bit reverential. We ran out of time before I got to explore the memorial garden, another aspect of the cemetery that I barely knew existed – that’s definitely something I’d like to do soon, though.
(edit: in light of the comments below, here’s the video for ‘Green Fields of France (or Willie McBride, or No Man’s Land) – one of my favourite songs ever, and it does make me teary if I’m in the right kind of mood.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
“don’t even blink” is this a reference taken from the Dr. Who episode ‘blink’? Because if it is that is a fantastic episode, I really loved it and have watched it several times.
Sorry to trivialise your post with a reference to Dr. Who, I too have never been to the soldier’s memorial at the Launceston cemetery, which is a little bit shameful.
I often enjoy wandering through graveyards or looking through the names at soldier’s memorials, or perhaps even just tracing family records. It may sound weird, but I get an enjoyment from the sort of strange emotion it leaves me- it’s an indescribable ‘reflective sadness’.
Obviously when you look at a grave, or the name of a soldier, or perhaps some other reference to a unknown person that has long since passed: you’re disconnected and don’t feel sad, but then connected enough to think ‘this was a real person and they’re just sort of gone, perhaps forgotten, I don’t really know what their life was like -I wonder what it was like to be them? what did they have as hopes or dreams? were they in love? what was their world view? what did they think of the future? were they happy? Sometimes I even think about a time travel scenario and going back to visit a memory of their world, which after all was the predecessor to our world.
I always think about people that have past and reflect on these sorts of things. It can be emotional in a soldiers memorial when you see a long list of lone gone souls. It just feel a deep nostalgia and profound sentimentalism reflecting on the past.
Perhaps thinking of them ‘the lost people’ makes me think about my own life and it’s uncertain future, as well as the ultimate end – and that I one day could just be a name or a grave, or a record of some sort, a lost relic online profile? or even legacy blog? Maybe one day people could wonder who Kyle Dolbey ever was? what was it like to be him? what were his hopes or dreams? how did he view the world? was he ever in love? what were the regrets?
Okay my rambing probably makes no sense, I’m finding it difficult to expand and put into words my thoughts about this. Plus it’s a distraction from an assignment I’m doing, but it was welcome.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Oh also really sad are old black and white photos of people. A recent similar experience of this ‘nostalgic sadness’ was when I had a look at the TASMANIA POLICE MISSING PEOPLE, a poster out the front of the Gladstone General store. It was an incredibly sad and moving experience.
Sorry about the above post, I just notice that as I hurriedly typed it, it is full of spelling and grammatical mistakes.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Hehe, that’s the one! I thought the weeping angel thing was kinda appropriate…
As far as lost and forgotten people go, you’re absolutely right. I had the thought while I was walking past all the plaques in the memorial – some of them (mostly the ones who died in the last decade) had two or three poppies stuck to them – like a family, maybe even just one person, came there to remember and to pay respect to that life that was. But so many more didn’t have poppies – the boys who died more than 90 years ago, the 25 year olds with their whole lives hardly even started, with the years 1916, 1918 on their deaths. And nothing to show that anyone remembers them.
Right there is a 90 year old man – probably a grandfather, maybe even a great-grand – with eight red fabric symbols of remembrance decorating his name, rank and date of birth. But there, next to him, is a 30 year old man, dead since 1917 with nothing to show that anyone knows who he was.
I’d point you to the song ‘Green Fields of France’ (seriously – y’all listen to it! I’ll put the vid in the post.)
March 17th, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Which graveyard was this? I thought you grabbed the angel off the Internet. It really is an incredible angel.
yeah, there’s something about a graveyard that just makes me think of the arbitrary values that exists to the society/civilisation of the period, which are reflected in the graves. About how young our civilisation is. It also weirds me out that there’s a solemn glorification of war in a graveyard, how these soldiers were killed for greed and selfish aspirations of the country leaders of the time. Where was the importance of their actual life at the time? It seems society likes to glorify with these lies of these noble traits this civilisation doesn’t have, the what-ifs of these lives that doesn’t exist because of their own behaviour… the bloody nature of humanity always makes me sad when I reflect on it.
March 18th, 2010 at 12:01 am
The photo was taken at Carr Villa – In the older part of the cemetery, on the left as you go in past the memorial arch.
Wow, interesting how your reflections differ from mine and Kyles. I wonder if anyone thinks anything else when they contemplate a grave?
And you’re right about the glorification – there’s a whole lot of that going on. I must say, though, I always think about the wives and sweethearts and sisters left at home, who had to hear the news and deal with it, because it was war.
Maybe I focus close in on families while your view is more panoramic!
March 18th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
possibly. I do think of their everyday life, but I guess I think on a broad social context. And this is to do with wars. It’s kinda hard, I guess I made it sound like that’s all I think about (for war memorials). There’s a lot of thoughts I didn’t convey and I’m sure it’s the same on your end.
Mind you, in normal graves I do wonder how many graves have been lost by time/lack of history/records/up keep/ etc etc. People always think graveyards are like this permanent endpoint, but it’s really just a structure with a longer survival length, but it’s not forever, the graves always lose their importance after a while. and get deleted for something shiny when nobody has a connection to them. much like war memorials. That’s the hypocrisy that gets to me. grr.
disclaimer: lol, this reads a lot like is a downer topic.