Life on Mars

You stepped out of the body.

Unzipped it like a coat.

And will it drag you back

As flesh, boys, scent?

What heat burns without touch,

And what does it become?

What are they that move

Through these rooms without even

The encumbrance of Shadows?

If you are one of them, I praise

The God of all gods, who is

Nothing and nowhere, a law,

Immutable proof. And if you are bound

By habit or will to be one of us

Again, I praise you are what waits

To break back into the world

Through me. (33)

I would describe this poem as extremely artistically visual. I think that Tracey K. Smith is describing the process of someone dying, in particular her dad. I think she is wondering what becomes of someone after they die: where they go, what they do. The first stanza I believe that she is describing someone leaving their body immediately after they die. She is describing them as no longer being part of their bodies and stepping out of their skin as a new being. In the second stanza I believe that she is questioning what people actually do after they die. She is wondering what becomes of them and if they are enclosed by walls. She is basically questioning what freedoms an individual has after they die. In the third to fourth stanzas I believe that she is solely asking for proof that her dad is always there with her after he died. She wants her questions to be answered about where he has gone and hopes that he is the “shadow or God” that is watching over her. She overall wants her father to be with her always even if he is not within his individual body.