Kim is our guest prompter today at dVerse Poetics (kim@writinginnorfolk.com). This is her first time hosting for us! She is asking us to write about, being, the spouse of someone famous, hopefully, someone dead so no libel. I am taking it one step further by writing as the spouse of Dorian Gray, my eternally beautiful and bored, favorite character of Oscar Wilde. Come visit us today and get to know Kim and the rest of the gang – however we show up! http://dversepoets.com/2016/08/23/poetical-spouses/
Mrs. Dorian Gray
“I care for who you are, not for what you wear.” Dorian Gray, Penny Dreadful
I sit here, old and wrinkled.
I have often wondered at you –
Eternally young and beautiful…and bored –
although you kindly say I never bore you
and you still touch me as you did when I/we were young
and that in your eyes, I am still the young bride
you brought home these sixty years gone.
The men and women come and go,
yet somehow, I still remain.
I wondered why, two decades ago –
Why you were still young and beautiful…and bored –
Until I found the portrait.
Until I found the portrait secreted away
in a basement room, hidden behind locks.
You were distracted one day and left your keys
on the bedside table.
And so
I took them and went to the room.
I must confess,
My heart almost stopped in my chest
At terror of the beast in the life-sized portrait.
And how as I watched, it changed
And became even more bestial and deformed.
I never told you I knew your secret but…
I think you guessed.
I love you,
Heart of my heart and soul of my soul.
I’ll love you until I die
Which God grant, will be soon.
Reeve Carney as Dorian Gray – public domain photo
kanzen sakura 
Aug 23, 2016 @ 06:29:57
Love it! Dorian Gray is one of my favorite stories….and Oscar Wilde was such a wit and writer. When he was dying in a hotel….he said: “This wallpaper! One of us has to go.”
Now, that’s a good jisei. LOL@
Aug 23, 2016 @ 09:26:52
Ha… I never heard that one..
Aug 23, 2016 @ 09:30:49
Neither did I. I made her up.
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Aug 23, 2016 @ 09:34:49
I love this story of Oscar and have always wished for the opportunity to use it.
Aug 23, 2016 @ 09:28:09
Love this.. somehow this dimension adds something to Dorian Grey that makes me think of him almost as a benign Bluebeard of sorts… like a mashup almost.
Aug 23, 2016 @ 09:32:06
LOL…never thought of him as a Bluebeard but I can see it. I can mos def see it.
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Aug 24, 2016 @ 04:56:12
Bluebeard was the first that came to mind, aptly too, when I reached the keys lying around and her opening the locked, secret door.
Aug 23, 2016 @ 15:51:17
Wonderful, Toni. I’ve missed Penny Dreadful so much and you’ve brought Dorian back to life through my challenge! I can imagine Billie Piper reading this poem. Oh to be young, beautiful and bored again!
Aug 24, 2016 @ 06:49:11
Yes, same here.
Aug 23, 2016 @ 15:59:39
Loved this. I’ve read the novel and watched the film which absolutely haunted me. So well done. Yes, I think death will be a release for them both.
Aug 23, 2016 @ 16:46:18
PENNY DREADFUL was landmark television. Initially I thought the concept a bit frivolous, but the writing & acting was strong. I was hooked for all three seasons, was sad at its finale. Eva Green was incredible. Your poetic resonates with all of it, so Victorian chic; really enjoyed it.
Aug 23, 2016 @ 17:14:24
Beautiful! It does have that Victorian feel to it 😀 just love how you have portrayed it all ❤️
Lots of love,
Sanaa
Aug 23, 2016 @ 17:57:34
I love how you took the story and gave it a deeper perspective from the eyes of Dorian’s lover. Eva is I agree plays her masterfully that I now miss the series. The horrifying moment of discovery was the turning point for me.
Aug 24, 2016 @ 08:18:14
Oh my — you’ve moved within the story by providing this voice. So well done!
Aug 24, 2016 @ 15:13:50
So sad.