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| In Memory of May 4, 1970: Kent State - Abraham & Isaac - George Segal, 1978. |
One of the more controversial pieces of art over the last 50 years, George Segal's bronze sculpture in memory of the Kent State killings, utilizing the Abraham and Isaac biblical story as analogy, still remains an emotional flashpoint for those who remember the murders of Jeffrey Glenn Miller, age 20, Allison B. Krause, age 19, William Knox Schroeder, age 19, Sandra Lee Scheuer, age 20.
Leonard Cohen's song "The Story of Isaac" utilized the same story to similar purposes on his album Songs from a Room, recorded ten years earlier. The opening verses are a simple lyrical retelling of the story. The final two verses, however, plainly draw the analogy to the Vietnam War, which was at its worst around the time of the song's composition:
You who build these altars now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted
By a demon or a god.
You who stand above them now,
Your hatchets blunt and bloody,
You were not there before,
When I lay upon a mountain
And my father's hand was trembling
With the beauty of the word.
And if you call me brother now,
Forgive me if I inquire,
"Just according to whose plan?"
When it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can.
When it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can.
And mercy on our uniform,
Man of peace or man of war,
The peacock spreads his fan
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| In Memory of the Kent State Massacre. Photo by John Filo. |
This is Cohen's first appearance on ISS, though his song "Hallelujah" was covered early on by Popa Chubby.
Since I'm thinking about (and now watching) Popa Chubby's rendition, I couldn't in good conscious not acknowledge the finest rendition of all, sans Cohen himself: Jeff Buckley:
And, in memory:
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From the archive this week a poem from Lilliput Review #123 by one of my favorite unknown poets, W. T. Ranney:
Counterfeit father of an Industrial City,
mama encased in Europe,
my life sways like a kite line
thru rented rooms odd jobs,
to days I only thot had ended
before I was born
W. T. Ranney
the trainer lets
his monkey hold it...
New Year's kite
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
best,
Don
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