High-Court Corporate-Money Decision On My Mind

Much too cold for walking at the beach yesterday, so Sven and I visited the ponds instead, setting off from the path behind the Kugel/Gips house, through the woods to the back rim of Great Pond. We found a small private beach there, below a deserted house, named “Idle Ours.” Someone had left out a lawn chair, so my husband made himself comfortable. Meanwhile, I was admiring ice formations on the edge of Northeast Pond. The fragility of the ice ledge above reminded me of our political system. The surface of all of Wellfleet’s ponds has refrozen, but not yet to ice-rink thickness. …. When we returned home, we found the New Yorker in our mailbox. The cover art is always fun to interpret. At first glance, I thought the artist had been inspired by the historic Supreme Court decision, with the house adrift and a heavy door swinging open to reveal skeletal figures. (We, the people?) But, I could not figure out the faces on the wall, who they were supposed to represent, perhaps African-Americans, losing a voice now that corporations have the upper hand and rule-by-money is to become modus operandi? It occurred to me that it was highly unlikely the artist had the time to create artwork, based around this concept, and meet the deadline for publication. Then I realized the “young lady” (Sven’s words) in the frilly white dress must represent Haiti. The faces on the wall are, no doubt, souls killed in the earthquake, rising from the rubble. When I had figured this out, I Googled New Yorker January 25th and discovered you can order the lithograph by Frantz Zephirin, called “The Resurrection of the Dead,” and proceeds will go to Partners in Health. Great New York Times article on Haiti Friday by Mark Danner. The country has been on people’s minds all over the world, even here in Wellfleet where the Lighthouse Restaurant organized a Friday benefit. Someone taped the poster below to a Main Street shop window, providing information on how to contribute more money.

Have you seen the New Yorker yet? What's your interpretation?