Oh, Beautifully Savage Mind

On February 11, 2010, two days before my birthday, Lee Alexander McQueen died. Over the years, he has always been my favourite designers and I must say I was sad to hear that he had died. The thing is I don't react the same way to death as others, it is something to be respected and accepted as part of life. Anyway, The Metropolitan Museum had put on an exhibition of his work called Alexander McQueen - Savage Beauty which ran from May 4, 2011 to August 7, 2011 and I never got to see it in person. When I read that it was ending on Garance Dore's  blog and saw the pictures she took, I was inspired to write this poem. I hope you like it.

The Met

Oh,
Beautifully savage mind
Wrapped in your neuroses,
Your madness,
Your genius.
I was never sure
Where one began
And the other ended.
All of them residing in
You.

Oh,
Beautifully savage mind,
You inspired me
To see beyond
The parameters of fashion,
Beyond fabric and string,
Fiber and skin,
To a place where
Wood, feathers, horns
And butterflies
Adorn the bodies of nymphs.

Oh,
Beautifully savage mind,
I knew not of your tears,
Your pain, your loss,
The little monsters
That whispered sadness
Into your ears.
I only saw the beauty
That spilled from your mind
By way of your fingers.

Oh,
Beautifully savage mind,
If only we knew,
We would have been
Angels whispering love,
Encouragement, peace
Into your ears.
Our words becoming
Fingers, hands, arms
Reaching across the chasm
Of your pain,
Embracing you,
Warming you
As you pass through
The wintertime called grief.

Oh,
Beautifully savage mind,
We did not know
And you slipped away
Into the great unknown,
And all we can do
Is hold on.
Hold on to the beauty
You left behind,
Hold on to name
We promise never to forget.

Oh,
Beautifully savage mind,
We promise to never forget
That you name was
Alexander McQueen.

To see more of his work from the exhibition, click here.

In This Dream

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If I could
Dream the undreamt
Dream, it would be
Of you draped in
The lace spun by
Spiders that kept
Their special work
For themselves,
But found you deserving
Of such wondrous things.

In this dream,
Instead of wrapping themselves,
Silk worms wrap you
In their luxurious strings,
Believing you are
The one who needs
The transformation,
From beautiful
To divine.

In this dream,
Sheep offer their wool
And fox their fur,
But to the latter you say no,
Accepting only their friendship
That would span the ages.
Woman and animal
Wanting nothing but
Love and understanding.

In this dream,
You are whole,
Existing in the eternal circle,
360°. Understanding that
One action begets another
Which begets the original action.

Love and you will be
Loved and in turn you will
Love.

Believe and it will
Come to pass,
Making you believe.

In this dream,
I become you,
Deserving,
Loving,
Believing,
Being whole.

And in time
The dream will cease
To be a dream,
The dream will become
My reality.

Untitled

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Wrapped in lace and tulle

And the most exquisite of silk,

I contemplated this next step,

This next stage of my life.

No longer is my life

Solely my own,

No longer will my decisions

Be left unchecked,

Unquestioned,

Unchallenged.

I will no longer be a leaf

Floating in the breeze of life,

Going here and there,

Without thought or consideration.

In a few hours,

I will be bound to another,

Tied to another with silken ties

That covered metal chains.

A little bit of my freedom

Traded in for a ring

And a promise.

And yet,

I walk willingly into my fate,

I embrace it open eyes,

An open mind and an open heart.

I shed my singular nature,

And as I wrapped myself

With lace and tulle

And the most exquisite of silk,

I embark on a new beginning,

A beginning with you.



Jonathon

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Jonathon walked along the coastline,
Every now and then,
He would look out
Into the brine
As though he was looking for
Something.

Something that was lost at see,
Or in some far off land
That lay beyond
The horizon,
Beyond our existence.

I would watch him
From a bedroom window
Wanting to reach out to him,
Wanting to wrap him in my arms
And till him that it’s alright
That the pain will subside
From piercing jabs
To a subdued ache.

All I can do is watch him,
Watch the grief devour him,
Consume him thoroughly,
Leaving a shadow of the man
I loved, I cherished,
That I vowed to love
Till Death do us part.

The reality is those vows
Were not accurate.
You see even though
I died,
Our love never died,
It bound us over
The chasm of life and death.

It kept me here and
Although I can’t talk to him,
Touch him,
Kiss him,
I can still love him,
And in some strange way
I think he can feel my love.

In time,
I will fade away
Into the great unknown.
In time,
His grief will fade
Into acceptance and gratitude
That we did share our lives,
But the one thing
That will never fade
Is our love for each other.

I love you, Jonathon
And I know you love me too.