Drue,

1992

<p><em>Student Essay for CWR 209 / ART 223 / COM 240 / GSS 277 Along the Edge: Leonora Carrington</em></p><p> Two silhouettes stand under the arch supporting the brick bridge. The one on the left is almost twice the height of the other. Light pours out from beyond the arch. I look for its source. A dull gloom fills the rest of the space above the bridge. Dark shadows on horseback ride single file across the span from one rocky ledge to the other. A partition of tall gray pillars divides the shadows from what lies beyond the overpass, and fog wafts between the columns, obstructing my view. I imagine that the pillars speak to one another, exchanging gasps and groans. I peer into the crevasse shaped by the flanking rocky ledges in front of the pillars and the bridge. </p> <p>From the flat ledge on the left, leaning over its ragged rim, three figures move toward the crevasse. I cannot tell if these figures are human, or whether they are male or female. The one standing farthest away seems to be clad in a long cloak, but this may be a body, not a garment. This figure hunches over, looking down into the chasm, perhaps at the silhouettes under the arch. I notice the profile of the second and largest figure on this side: a sharp nose and two slits, one for an eye and the other for a mouth. With a back that blends into the surrounding cave, this figure resembles a stone. It subsumes the body closest to me. This figure, in all black, wears a textured cloak, perhaps, of fur, and has a beard. A long, dark rod in its outstretched arm points down to the silhouettes beneath the bridge. A mysterious oval cuts the cloak, perhaps around the figure's eye, where light or skin shines through. </p><p>Opposite these ambiguous profiles, three more animal-like coyote figures perch on the other side of the crevasse. There are three tiers to their ledge. Each creature stands upon one. The top figure is gray and hazy, head leaning down over the side and, like the figures on the other ledge, it peers at the arch below. The other two creatures are more alert, with ears upright and eyes open wide. The blue-spotted coyote on the lowest tier stares across at the opposite figures. Its bulging eyes and protective stance leave me wondering what it may be guarding.</p><p><p> <em>Abigail Glickman Princeton Class of 2023</em></p></p>