life on mars blog post

“In the south wing, there’s a small room where a living man sits on a display” (Smith 24).

            Upon reading Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars, one of the first poems that really stuck out to me was “The Museum of Obsolescence.” The first time I read this poem I actually believed that she was talking about a hospital or a nursing home because of the use of “south wing.” I thought that the old man described was a patient and that this was an analogy for how people in those facilities feel like displays. However, after reading more of the poems and better understanding the style and concept of the book, I realized Smith was probably attempting to describe something different than what I thought. After realizing that a large portion of the poems center around space and the future and just science in general I have come to the conclusion that she is attempting to describe the idea of a futuristic museum where humans are actually displays. She utilizes the phrase “he’ll describe the old beliefs,” which could potentially emphasize the idea of this man representing the past. I was especially intrigued by the line “the last thing you see (after a mirror—someone’s idea of a joke?)” (Smith 25). Is this commenting on self-absorbency? Or maybe something much deeper?  I still am not entirely positive on what this poem is actually commenting on, though I still find it to be a very engaging piece that I cannot help but to keep rereading. That being said, is this poem commenting on today’s society although it is supposed to be about the future?