Feministing. Queering. Deconstructing.
The Lovers
Rene Magritte, 1928
Magritte’s mother was a suicidal woman, which led her husband, Magritte’s father, to lock her up in her room. One day, she escaped, and was found down a nearby river dead, having drowned herself. According to legend, 13 year old Magritte was there when they retrieved the body from the river. As she was pulled from the water, her dress covered her face. This later became a theme in many of Magritte’s paintings in the 1920’s, portraying people with cloth covering their faces. (source)
Outside the door of the hotel room next to mine is this discarded box that has written on it, “FULL CAKE.” There is some frosting visible at the bottom. Did I consider opening that box to see if there was any cake in there that looked safe enough to eat? Yes. Of course I did.
BECAUSE I AM A HUMAN BEING WITH A BEATING HEART.
Also, the shutter sound was on on my phone’s camera and I was terrified that I would get caught taking a picture of this discarded cake box and either get beaten up or invited into something weird.
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of battles fought and lives lost. It once pained me to know that I am the cause of such despair. But now their cries give me strength. Beauty is my power.