She was not sleeping. She was not changed, either.
She had stopped at the point where she resembled
only herself, and where her face, having only Anne’s
expression, was disturbing to look at. I took her hand.
I placed my lips on her forehead. I treated her as if she
were alive and, because she was unique among the
dead in still having a face and a hand, my gestures did
not seem insane. Did she appear alive, then? Alas, all
that prevented her from being distinguished from a
real person was that which verified her annihilation.
She was entirely within herself: in death, abounding in
life. She seemed more weighty, more in control of
herself. No Anne was lacking in the corpse of Anne.
Maurice Blanchot, ”Thomas the Obscure”.
The curtains were half drawn, the floor was swept
And strewn with rushes, rosemary and may
Lay thick upon the bed on which I lay,
Where through the lattice ivy-shadows crept.
He leaned above me, thinking that I slept
And could not hear him; but I heard him say,
‘Poor child, poor child’: and as he turned away
Came a deep silence, and I knew he wept.
He did not touch the shroud, or raise the fold
That hid my face, or take my hand in his,
Or ruffle the smooth pillows for my head:
He did not love me living; but once dead
He pitied me; and very sweet it is
To know he still is warm though I am cold.
– Christina Rossetti, ”After death”
Garret Grimoire
Sylvester Hegner
May 7 – June 3, 2016
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Garret Grimoire
