Immortal Ambiguity

Immortal Ambiguity Kate McGorry

EYES IN WANT OF BODY, ENCASED IN GLASS, LOOK PAST THE PRESENT. Their gaze is broken by the decay of time. A crack crosses through the iris, having pried out the gemmed pupils long ago. What remains are large black globes pitted in the center and submerged in a sea of chalky white. Through the jagged edges of oxidized bronze, the stone eyes rest their broken gaze on the Greek and Roman Wing of the Met. As I look closer the serrated lashes remind me of the luminous teeth of a Venus flytrap. They lay in wait, preying on others sight.

I retreat in search of a body to house them. The figures surrounding them appear in the mathematical perfection one would imagine for the time. I envision these eyes socketed in the blank marble stares of the surrounding statues and recoil. Their expressive character seems antithetical to the demure existence of their cousins. Each attempt to house these orphaned pair merely increases the anonymity of their being. I find no home.

Genderless, ageless, actionless. They are pure sense distilled in timeless observation. Transcendent from temporal being, all time dwells in these eyes. Within the absence of a confirmed existence, my imagination goes swimming in the ambiguity of their being. My sight is finally conquered.

A new form takes shape beneath the glow of artificial light. From the underbelly of their austere stare a shadow peers out. The post on which they perch merges with the teethy lashes to create an illusion of blossoming dandelions. Their ambiguous existence is once again reborn.

Image by Kate McGorry