Tender morsels from Claire

Claire Beynon's neatly turned slightly peculiar story treads a fine line between fact and fantasy, earth and sky. She is a Dunedin artist, explorer, and poet who also keeps a much-loved blog.

Claire: Yesterday's attempts to tap out an introductory prelude to my story were sadly lacking in direction and spark, so I gave up on words and turned my attention instead to the catharsis of two 'on-hand' characters and a brief afternoon session of Table-Top Theatre.

Meet Marzipan and his mouse-gal, Moth; the peculiar lovers that share my space at no. 22.

My daughter created this Unlikely Pair some years ago and presented them to me one afternoon with the statement, 'No artist's studio is complete without a cat.'

I've lived with Marzipan and Moth for going on nine years now; the two of them have been an 'item' for a fair while longer, though . . .  Hmm. I'm guessing thirteen/fourteen years?

By nature inclined towards a sedentary life, they make up in steadfastness what they lack in courage and charisma. Yesterday, Marzipan and Moth demonstrated a rare moment of imaginative flare when they took it on themselves to transform my Veronika Maser wire sculpture into a stage set for romance. Who was I to argue? Maser's curlicues provided me with a welcome and necessary connecting element between M & M's ordinarily hum-drum love affair and the altogether unconventional relationship that features in my Slightly Peculiar Love Story.

No matter the nature or duration of a relationship, show me a love affair that does not call for a degree of tautness and flexibility; a measure of daring and trust, recklessness and eyes-wide-open vigilance?

(Mis)quoting from my SPLS story, love 'is a high-wire of our own making' and 'falling is an inevitable part of treading the high-wire. . .'

The universe of the heart can be very peculiar indeed.