Ciara Darren

Mars Chastises Cupid

When I turned around and saw this gorgeously colored work of art on the wall, I was rather surprised to see it hung in public. I can only suppose you know in what directions my thoughts were running. And evidently, I’m not the only one. It is large, at least five feet tall and three feet wide. The placard on the wall had some statement eluding to Mars pushing Cupid for making him have an affair with the woman in the painting. I had eyes only for Cupid and Mars, however. In person, the women in the left hand corner rather fades from sight, when compared to Cupid’s glowing skin and the raw energy of Mars.

So, my dear readers, I ask you, what do you see? If you go over it carefully, does Cupid look like he is being punished? Is he struggling? Do you see his hand, nearly relaxed in Mar’s grip? Does Mars actually appear that angered or is he enjoying himself?

I saw a piece of beautifully kinky homoerotic art. What do you see? Do you agree with some viewers as quoted in the Chicago Tribune?

Out of all the old paintings, this was definitely my favorite of the day.

Do share if you have a favorite piece of old art that has been sanctified by time.

Walk Away Girl, Walk Away

The moment of walking away stays with you forever. The emotions can be so pure and yet conflicted. Sitting on the back of a public bus driving towards the international airport in South Korea, I remember clear pictures, flashes of realizations. The blue seat of the bus. The blue sky with white clouds. The small Asian style trucks rushing by.

I opened my purse and pulled out all the small change. It was useless to me. Too small to change at the currency counter. I held the coins in my hands, money I had worked and cried for, in tiny pieces, too small to be of any future use.

They trickled through my fingers onto the blue seat.

I stood up. I walked away. I left those tiny coins behind and I left behind a job that had torn me apart inside.

It felt like laughter and it felt like weeping. I walked alone into the terminal, not flying home and not leaving home. Just walking away from something that had treated me wrong.

There was terror. There was liberty. There was real danger and real joy.

I was a just a girl with her suitcase, looking for a better life, willing to leave the dross behind.

We Are…

There is no monster as great as man. No vampire, no dark lord, no werewolf or dragon is as frightening as a human bent on his darker nature.

And there is no creature as beautiful. No elven image that does not borrow from the best of humanity, no goddess that is not displayed in all her glory as woman.

Weeping, I acknowledge that both qualities, horror and beauty reside within in the human condition.

We are the fantastical.