Brief Encounter

“What is your name?” you asked.
I answered.
“I really enjoyed the exhibit,” you said. You talked about your favorite
paintings, your favorite artists. You talked about theory. You knew so
much. I saw you were passionate. You never told me your name. You
had mine but I did not have yours.
“I am really enjoying talking with you,” you said and looked me in the
eyes. You licked the right side of your upper lip. I looked down at my lap
and saw the crumbs. I brushed them off and thought about you. I
thought about your gentleness, your strength, your knowledge,
your kindness. You were everything, you were perfect. You did not have
to say it, but I knew it. You were in love with me and I was in love with
you.
“Let me get you another espresso,” you said. You got up and bought me
another espresso. There was no cookie this time. I don’t like coffee but
I took a sip from the small cup. It was but a small sacrifice to remain
with you.
I saw you staring. You looked at me a moment longer. I waited for you
to speak. You leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “I saw you in the
gallery earlier but didn’t think that you were that pretty because your
hair is frizzy and you have a large nose, but have skin like smooth
chocolate, it’s exotic.”
Such words you had spoken, I had never heard so sweetly said. You
thought that I was beautiful! Yours were a lover’s words. You did not
have to say it, but I knew it. You were in love with me and I was in love
with you.
*From the archives of the museum:
Leda and the Swan, Revisited
Oil on Canvas, 1988
“In this provocative rendering, the artist subverts the greek myth of Leda and Swan through her literal yet surreal interpretation. In
the original telling of the story, Zeus disguises himself as a swan to be with his lover, queen of Sparta, Leda. Leda and the Swan has
inspired masters throughout the centuries from artist Leonardo Da Vinci to poet William Yeats. At times, the myth is told as
seductive romance and at others as a brutal molestation.
In this version of the myth, the artist depicts a woman who cannot see that her lover is but a simple bird. Examine the bird’s
feathers closely and you will see that they are not white like a swan’s but grey like a goose's. The bird is this painting is not even a
swan, it is a goose. Next, look at Leda, our misguided heroine. Her golden hair wraps around her face and her eyes symbolizing the
limitations of society’s conceptualization of femininity. Leda has an obscured vision of the world. She sees a world that glitters and
glistens, a world in which a goose can be a swan and where a swan can be a god.”