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ORPHE  US  (& THE HERO RODE A 'WONDERUS' AND MAGICAL CREATURE) _ 2022  _ Porcelain  _ 8 x 11 x 2 in 

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WRITTEN BEFORE THE DEATH OF THE MAGICAL CREATURE

This vessel is the soul of the animal.  What is contained within?  What does it all mean?  

 

I am just a child,  and when I arise in the morning I am joyfully surrounded by ginormous towers of flowers - azure & turquoise Mediterranean blues and sun flower marigolds nourished  and given life from 93 million miles away and singing shades of canary yellow and dazzling bejeweled chinese jade.  And I love this place, this room and these magnificent flowers blooming all around.  They mean something to me. They are a part of who I am through starlit nights and twinkling lights and love is all around around all around me enveloping me anew each rising day . . .   

 

The selection of the medium - white porcelain - was intentional.  Pure, clean, beautiful, hard, fragile.  Very fragile. 

The design so very basic yet intricate,  essence simple simple . . .  

All of these and all at once. 

 

We are in China in an open seafood market and a man is trying to sell us his wares. And I can not help but notice the chimpanzee. He is shackled and chained to a post nearby, and he cannot escape this place.  Near where he is chained, another chimp's severed hand  - a serving dish to feed the patrons at this place.  They are smiling and laughing and drinking soup with both hands cups held aloft.  It is a disturbing scene.  I see his eyes.  I see him.  And I cannot get this animal's look of fear out of my mind even after all these years... ..   ("Mankind . . . . . . . Man - kind?")  

 

                                                                                                                                                                                          What oxymoron man? 

 

And the man with the wares captures our attention and shows us a huge cylindrical blue and white vase - -  and my father demonstrates the value of the vase -- the higher pitch of the ping he tells me - the more valuable the vessel.  The ones that are most valuable are few and far between.  They are indeed (& in deed) - quite rare! Such a vessel must be cherished and treated with the utmost respect & care (so as not to break it).  God knows how important THAT is!  So, back to my father,  who just smiles at me and strikes the top edge of the large blue and white tall cylindrical vase with the tip of a small silver spoon.  Ping  - Ping  - Ping!  I memorize its sound. Decades ago.  And I remember.  Still.  Now,  it is my turn.  I take my nail and strike it to Orphe Us.  Ping! . . .. Ping! . . .. Ping! . . . .. It is the most beautiful sound in the world to me because of what it reminds me of him .  .  ..  because it TAKES ME BACK . . .  .. a beautiful resounding high pitch - I hear it over and over again.  The sound of the porcelain,  pure.  Unbroken.  And then -  -  - The silent sound of the cries for mercy unheard among the rising din at this seafood market . . . . . . .  And Yes,  I hear it now as if it were yesterday it was only a mere moment ago.  And I am a small child traveling with this very handsome and very charming man, my father, and now I am transported back through miles and decades across Oceans and to far away places . . .    

 

The 'primitive' rendering of the animal is intentional as well.  Raw and real.  It is not a myth at all.  It appears to be a cross between a canine and a 'beast of burden.'  The k9 is my friend,  of course! -  He is, above all - trustworthy.  What a remarkable thing!!  And notice the title - the apparent 'beast of burden' is  - - why - -  not a beast at all!  And the burden - as it turns out - the burden is actually the so-called 'hero.'  The primitive animal is a vessel for healing of others. The vessel is filled to the brim overflowing with water overflowing with a deep and innate undertanding & kindness  overflowing with love - - - - refreshing - - - healing - - - - - the cleansing scene in the movie before the hero rides forth for final battle he must be cleansed.  It is in every film (so I was told, by Syd Field, The Master, when I sat there at his and his wife Aviva's dining room table, Tuesday nights, studying alongside the Masters of the s.p. World, not so very long ago, a brief and joyful moment in time) - watch for those scenes admonished Syd with a smile -  a shower, a bath,  a spray, a Baptism, an Ocean as far as the eye can see in every which direction waves crashing carelessly against the delicate pink shoreline . . . .  It is the vessel the round curves the smoothness to touch beneath my finger tips as I run them gently across the surface around the curves,  it is this vessel this Magical Creature that provides this necessary cleansing to the hero - that without which the hero would be nothing at all.  But each time,  each time the vessel is drained a little bit more by the hero.  And after he is healed,  he will forget every word insight after insight brilliant quietly out of nowhere amidst the silliness such a strange juxtaposition remarkable really then every gesture unexpected laughter every sprinkle of Magical Fairy Dust surprise surprise that the Creature gave to him to bring him to this point . . . after all of it, he will forget & the Magical Creature will be left alone to slowly die . . .. and then unexpected over ending final of course it could have should have been seen coming it was obvious and yet a surprise still after all the silly juxtapositions that just made everyone all around laugh and smile and made their lives better draining the vessel draining the vessel draining . . .  and then there it was empty and the porcelain broke into a million pieces and everyone said they didn't see it coming but the truth is nobody bothered to look because nobody cared . . ..

 

The Good Fairy, Theodora, she tried to awaken the Magical Creature but she lay peaceful unresponsive.  And only then does the Forest truly come to life.  So strange it took this for her to be truly valued.  Great Creatures Big and Small circle around what remains from the Magic. What remains are images on the walls all around.  They are images which chart the course of the Magical Creature's journey.  Each life that was saved.  Each life that was touched.  There were too many to count.  And the others come from all over to say good-bye one last time.  This time,  to show respect that was never given when she walked among them. This time to show they cared.  Did they?  This time for them to remember.   It was in fact the Magical Creature who was the real hero!  Without the Magical Creature,  the shadow that remained was all there was of the hero and that would have been non-impressive.  Without the Magical Creature the 'hero' would not could not manifest all that he might be.  The Magical Creature had a secret.  The secret was simple.   She lived entirely for others.  That.  That is what brought her joy.  And yet, too, it brought her deep sorrow.  For they all drank from the well.  Living for others requires much.  It requires great ability to see everything unencumbered by things of little matter and greater understanding of what's inside of another's soul.  It requires caring.  And great ability to love truly and deeply.  She saw something more because she every day every moment she took the care the time to look. Because she cared and because her caring was real and true.   She saw what those closest could not see given every advantage of proximity and time.  Even the Hero himself could not see.  She Magical Creature had only to hold a mirror up - and smile. Look!  See what I See!  And now,  among the sparkles and pops in the sky that once he shared with her from afar,  he remembers everything.  What he remembers most is how that felt when it was real and true and he understands what she did for him. And what she was willing to sacrifice for him.  

 

A tear falls silently down his cheek when he gets the report that she is really gone, and as she could make him both laugh and cry,  he smiles, too.  And now he understands.   He is a reflection of what the Magical Creature saw . . . . . . . Yes, in deed,  it was the Magical Creature willing to ride to the depths of the UnderWorld having to bear the burden of others, all,  hanging on for a bit of magic on the 'WonderUs' Creature's journey to save to restore for those who need to be resurrected through her healing powers of what was once a WonderUs Being.  This creature unlike any other was magical in deed indeed.

 

And the fireworks explode among the stars so nobody hears another pop! 

and just like that. . . .. the Magical Creature is gone forever ~