An Archive of Love

To Aletia Badenhorst

From Giles Sutherland

I imagined you as a typewriter of ideas –

Spewing forth countless, 

Continuous reams of theatrical props.

As if the archive of your mind 

Was interlinked with those 

Mildewed and disordered pages;

Those boxes of unattended promise, 

Mystery and…disappointment…

You’ve made an art of the fragmented; 

You’ve created a story,

Where previously incoherent voices 

Ran, playing, on multiple tracks.

Art forges order from chaos,

Beauty from discarded fragments of life. 

Your elegant poise 

Is your testament to life.

To the contrary 

Of those misinformed others.

You have much to offer 

To those who offer much less.

You offer me more:

The companionship of art.

GILES SUTHERLAND