You came to me accidentally
as Beauty,
with blemishes and injury —
a past with a trail of
impressions
called you out from ordinary…
with a dream of being wholly free.
I came to you miraculously
as Beast,
with a complementary history ––
reinventing myself at every turn,
fearless of being lost again…
with a dream of finding home.
I am not here to excuse, change or interpret you.
My mind will not be vitiated by prejudice
— you are already perfect.
In your shadows I explore
from emptiness,
the mystery of you
being you.
I need no map, nor breadcrumbs,
to follow home to us:
transformed way-finders,
conjoined as Beast and Beauty.”
to Beauty & the Beast Dinner.
I woke at 2:30 a.m. and went into our office to write. When I woke Dagma at 7 with her tea she asked me what got me up so early. "I had this dream that I was preparing dinner for you. It was a dinner for 'Beauty & the Beast.' I just completed putting together the menu from items stored in the freezer and foods in the fridge that need to be used up. Dinner will be at six tonight. I’ll be setting the table with fresh flowers from your garden, dress a ‘Bird of Paradise’ napkin fold and print for you a menu. I'm wearing my tux. You may wear what you wish. Is it a date?"
"Yes."
At my age of 76, especially considering how many times I have almost been 'taken out' with health issues, I'm more inclined NOT to put off to another day, an opportunity to enjoy even the smallest of intimate occasions and conversations with all of my loved ones, especially Dagma, to share the best of me––to take the time to put aside excuses, aches, and 'to do' list, and be fully entertained in the present moment––to be unreasonable.
Our delicious and beautifully appointed three-hour dinner with multiple candles lit was completed with cognac, some dancing in the kitchen to Tony Bennett and doing dishes together laughing. The wine, the food and the company were intoxicating.
“Will you be Beauty or Beast for me tonight? You choose.”
The French fairy tale ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was originally written in 1740, is as much a lesson in self-acceptance as much as it is fraught with psychological illustrations, ie.: Stockholm Personality Disorder (Beauty becoming emotionally attached and imprisoned after being being rescued.); and Narcissitic Personality Disorder (Beast’s overwhelming need for admiration.).
My life is an example of Beauty (and there were more than a few significant Beauties) releasing the ‘prince’ from his beastly curse.
“It's a psychological cliché that we need to learn to love ourselves, even those parts of ourselves that we think are objectively objectionable. It's such a cliché that it's almost hard to take it in when it's said to us. ... Beauty must learn to see the beauty in the Beast.”
I say, Beast must also learn to see the Beast in the beauty.
Copyright Gary Ibsen All rights reserved.