In Your Dreams (BxB) ✓

twentyfive

Monday, November 17th

"Woah, this is so pretty!" Christian looks at the Museum of Modern Art in awe.

"We haven't even gotten inside yet, so if this blows your mind, get ready," Mr. Nolan says. When we enter the large venue, we are immediately greeted by amazing artwork of all mediums. Sculptures, paintings, pottery, mosaics. Mrs. Dwyer rushes ahead of the rest of us because she sees something cool, but she is soon stopped by security and returned to us.

"Calm down, Margaret," Mr. Nolan says and we all nervously laugh. We patiently wait for our guide and join a larger group of people. We walk through a tall doorway into a long corridor displaying beautiful abstract artworks. Christian doesn't seem too interested in them, because he has a hard time understanding their meaning.

"This is a painting of a bunch of colors slapped on a canvas named "Descent". What does that even mean? It's pretty, but it doesn't even make sense, how is it popular enough to be here?"

"It's hidden meaning, Christian," I inform him. "The person who created this has emotions, of course. This may be what resulted from how they felt, like their life was descending in some way. Maybe they were dying, or just depressed."

"Yeah, it seems depressing. I get it now, but why are you so adept at this? Figuring this abstract stuff out."

"I don't know, I've always had a knack for what people must be thinking. I think I'm psychic, honestly."

"You're too modest," Christian teases sarcastically.

We move on after a while of perusing trip colorful paintings to some more understandable paintings of scenery. Mrs. Dwyer runs around looking at all the sunsets and Mr. Nolan has a constant face palm at how quirky she is. They are polar opposites, it's so much fun to see them interact. After that, we move on to sculptures and pottery. There are some amazing, and massive statues of people, animals, just about anything. There are beautiful glazed vases and weird ones that would never hold anything, so I guess they belong here.

Soon we move on to a photography gallery, and damn is it amazing. One of my favorites is a photograph featured at the end of the hall, very large, surrounded by many of the same author. The featured photo is a nice riverside with flourishing flowers and nature all around. Near the water, two men sit with their back's facing the camera, the slightly taller one with his arm around the other's shoulder. I can slightly see the happiness in the side profile of the shorter guy. Something strikes me that this wasn't mere modeling, it feels so authentic.

The title of the photo is "Happy", and the author is Enoch Fisher. The biopic underneath explains overcoming societal norms for love, and how Fisher has become a prominent influence for the LGBTQ+ community in the world of photography. The photo is of his husband Jonathan and himself. I knew just from seeing the photo that it was genuine. It's so promising and inspiring to see gay men becoming so successful, like we are finally getting a place in the world, and not just in some places but all over the country.

"What is it, Jay? Oh wow!" Christian sees me staring and joins me. "They look happy, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do." I feel compelled to kiss him, so I just throw caution to the wind and do it. I close my eyes and let the moment seep in. This is one of the few very public places this has happened, but something about feeling free to do it is liberating and it makes it special in its own rite. My eyes creep open to look in the corner of my view and I see Mrs. Dwyer fan-girling and Mr. Nolan face palming as usual, but smiling.