The Painter’s Love for Dorian Gray.
I write on the twentieth of September, and to-day there is an ache in my breast, one that speaks of a coming death, the singing of angels’ trumpets, of a cold hand walking me to my savior—that man they preach about in churches, where men think as often as they are faithful and lie as often as they boast and brag; these men in these churches preach of that holy man, that perfect man whom I can only hope will one day save me. What is there to save me from, though—is it even possible to save a man such as myself, who walked willingly into a vixen’s snare, one who sat idly as he was forsaken, forgotten, replaced—Replaced by a man like Harry, no less. Is there any saving for fools like myself, for nonbelievers like myself—a man that would trade Heaven and God away for another evening spent painting at the side of Dorian Gray; for any perfect man they preach of may not compare to him, not with his golden hair, plucked from an angel’s scalp and sewn into his skin, nor with those crystalline eyes of Dorian Gray, those eyes which not even the Hope Diamond can compete with—and surely, there will never be anything in competition with how empty his head his; there will never be a thing in existence with eyes more vacant or tongue less thoughtful than that of Dorian Gray. My heart races as I write, and still there is an ache in my breast—I shouldn’t speak so harshly of Dorian, not when he is so young and there is so much more of life for him to discover; certainly not when Harry holds his soul in the palm of his fist, has him trapped in this fantasy, this foul, faux romantic life.
Yet, am I not trapped in a faux romance as well? One of my own creation, that is the difference—Dorian had no say in the creation of his, nor does he realize the hurt that should befall him when the curtain closes, when the charade is over and Harry is done with him. I choose to live in my daydreams—fiery colored daydreams of Dorian’s breast against my own, of golden hair caught between my fingers and those rosy lips so daintily parted against my own—maybe he should whine for me with that boyish voice of his, maybe he should need me in all the same ways I need him; and cool toned daydreams of waking up to Dorian in my arms, of reveling in the airheadedness of his sing-song voice as we lounge in the garden, hand in hand, heart to heart, where I have the luxury of listening to him, whether he’s venting what troubles that pretty little head of his or proclaiming his love for himself yet again—the manner of his talking never matters so long as he does; even Dorian Gray’s meanest words send my heart racing and my cheeks flushing.
Should he ever know how badly I desire him?—even on his worst of days, when all he can conjure is meanness, a narcissus in his own right—and any man with the looks of Dorian Gray has that right to be a narcissus, it should be a crime to deny them of that. There is heartache that comes with Dorian, as it is with every person, but still—that is not to say that I don’t most long for good days, for fingers intertwined and chaste kisses and whispered “I love you”s—oh, how I long for my Dorian to share my love.
I without he is anathema to me. It’s such a sad sight, truly, an artist with no muse—it is the same as the seas with no water, a sky without light, no sun nor stars nor moon to illuminate the ground; I without Dorian Gray is an abomination, and a sad one; one that makes that ache grow and throb with the beating of my heart—I fear it should kill me should I continue to write, but I find myself too alone to refrain from such a passionate act; if I cannot hide myself away in the portrait of Dorian Gray, then I should hide it away on paper, perhaps hide that paper away with a flame. I shudder to ponder him finding this—he would never understand, never even try in the way that sometimes non-artists do and always fail, for a non-artist can never love in his heart the same way that artists do—and if that’s the case, I truly am a fool to vy for Dorian Gray’s love, for it will never amount to mine. No, should he find this he would turn his nose up to me, regard me with contemptment, as something beneath him, something smaller, lesser than him—there is nothing but pain waiting for those who love Dorian Gray, because should he not treat me lesser, he would still break this fragile heart of mine—perhaps by indulging me, by making me a game, a plaything, a parrot to echo the words of a narcissus back to him—all things Harry has taught him to do.
Yet still, I find myself trembling at the thought; oh how lovely it would be to be loved by Dorian Gray, even if only in a superficial way. How selfish, how foolish am I?- to so willingly be used only for the risk of being touched, perhaps even caressed by someone I love—the only person I’ve ever loved, truly and with my whole heart, the only thing that has ever given my art meaning.
That ache in my breast has spread—my throat burns with tears yet to fall, tears swelling in the name of my Dorian—my Dorian who Harry stole away from me, who chose blindly to abandon me, the only man ever to love him for more than his pretty face; although, I do love that face of his, that form, his hands, the ever-so-rare freckle—… That isn’t the point is it, though?-that I love Dorian Gray?-rather, the point is his lack of love for me.
I shall dwell on it no longer.