The Perfect Image

Paul Amlehn - Libretto, composition, arrangement, production

From the avant-garde opera: "Tasmantis."

Libretto:

"Before his suicide
By hanging
He burned all of his paintings
And drawings
Except for one.

The young girls of the village
Would come to his studio
He, fully clothed, in formal wear
They, completely nude
Playing games of chess.

I was one of the girls
He was my first lover
He was a sensitive lover
Tender, gentle, intuitive.

We would make love for days
On a dirty mattress on the floor
In the humid summer heat
Drinking port wine and smoking cigarillos.

I liked to show off my ballet to his friends
Who would paint me
In my tutu and pointe shoes
In lewd poses.

I was a willing collaborator
In my own corruption
I reveled in it
I encouraged his abnormal urges.

He was single-minded
In his search for the perfect image
Under his obsessive gaze
I spontaneously lubricated."