Unidentifiable dead bodies fished out of the Seine
and scooped off streets of Paris
put on display behind windows on tilted, marble slabs
their clothes hung next to their bodies
became public viewing at a morgue named La Morgue
at first to try to identify the nameless corpses
eventually free entertainment for the masses
sometimes as many as 40,000 visitors a day
gawking at the dead bodies of men, women
and children
vendors hawked goods outside the morgue
that had a greater attendance than theaters
visiting La morgue became a social event
to see and be seen at
open seven days a week from dawn to 6pm
locals and tourists attended in droves
a ghoulish good time for every one of them
parents even brought their children
who would ever have imagined
rubbernecking the decaying dead
would become popular entertainment
at a Paris morgue in the 1800s.
Bob Boyd