The bride

Lean against the back of the chair and stretch,
My head will fall back.
Strange place, he whispered, and I nodded.

What are you doing back here? I said, and lowered my arms,
Trying to bend over backwards enough to see him upside down,
Make sure he's really here.

I came to sing to you. You seem upset.
I did an upside-down nod, and sat straight again,
Good posture for once in my life.

I am.

Why are you upset? Is it this place? If it is, I can take you out of here...
No...not here. Not a room. If it is a room, it's inside me.
I thought you were happy, bride-of-roses.
Yeah, I thought I was, too. I think I still am.

Mmm, he said, and sat on the back of my chair.

Sing.

He stroked my hair. Air trembled. Dimension flickered. Two places, one me.
What is this feeling, I asked, and I felt his presence smile.
This is how God feels.
I didn't think I understood and so said nothing, and he said nothing.

She is your One, he said finally, and I felt him pulling away.
I felt the cold of being alone in a house of strange smells and energies,
And he smiled again, as best as he could, as the air and dimension settled down...

You have evolved, I heard him think.
Should be...was...just words.
Just the simplistic being I am and the knowledge of better things...
I do not need my past anymore, nor my body, I said into an empty room...
And somewhere, the old bride dies.

Die Braut (unfinished) - Gustav Klimt
(1917/1918)
Oil on Canvas, 166 x 190 cm
Private Collection

This unfinished oil by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, was found on his easel after his death in 1918. The discovery of this painting lead to some important insights about Klimt's style and painting methods. The picture is overflowing with warm reds, browns, and oranges, in the swirling patterns that were Klimt's trademark. The focus of the painting is the bride, standing in the middle of the canvas. Her head is tilted to the left, perhaps lost in a day dream of her wedding night. This pose holds close resemblance to Klimt's earlier work 'The Maiden'. Some say that the bridegroom in the artwork may be an indirect portrait of Klimt himself, demonstrating his seductive power over women. The mans face does look remarkably similar to Klimt's own.

An important feature of Klimt's art, which was uncovered by this painting, (and which would be brought into light if the layers of paint were stripped from Klimt's many female portraits), is that Gustav Klimt drew his women naked, before covering them in dresses of paint. The incompleteness of this piece demonstrates this in great detail. The woman on the right of the cavas is naked, only partially covered by the brightly coloured frock Klimt was painting over her bare form. Her legs are spread apart, to display a carefully painted pubic region. Klimt put much effort, and painstaking detail into these nudes prior to painting.