A Visit to Ground Zero

A recent visit to ground zero in Manhattan revealed a profusion of defining elements: apocalyptic architecture, funeral pyre, carnival, wake and shrine. Many came to pay their respects, others to convert televised images into some manageable reality, some to hawk trinkets and mementos and a surprisingly large number to seemingly record the penultimate disaster.

Ordinary people with cameras of every description unrelentingly recording the event that has redefined modern history. People atop lampposts and on car roofs attempting to penetrate some uncharted aspect of the disaster. A record of the catastrophic birth of the newest global shrine.

Hopefully, beyond the bizarre curiosity and stunning magnitude of ground zero is the recognition that this is not life imitating art but rather the most grotesque form of human calamity.

Michael R. Seskin

Solana Beach