The Swimming Lesson (A Text Written by Venesia for Her Brother Venexia During Their Parentally-Forced Separation)

it is not possible to get married until one has turned two years old
and then you can only marry your own sister
if she is dead, you may marry any girl you choose
if she is alive, you cannot marry anyone else
because you will come to despise your wife as being, by comparison to your twin, much too much of an other.
you may only marry someone who looks exactly like yourself
but you must never tell anyone that you are going to marry her
because if you do she will die before the night of the marriage
and so will you as well
you may only marry someone whom you have met in a dream
and you must not say anything about this either
for the penalty of speech is to have your tongue torn out
with red-hot pincers and nailed to a tree
your lips are sewn together and your eyelids sewed shut
then you are taken to a house where a hundred people
are sitting round tables drinking wine
and eating roast beef with mint sauce
they all wear black masks and they eat and drink without speaking
while a man plays a concert violin and another blows a conch shell.

the first thing you must learn is how to walk
so that no one notices you are lame
learn to speak with your mouth closed
so that no one sees the marks of teeth on your face
never let anyone know what you think or feel
never laugh loudly in front of others
never cry in front of others
always remember that the world is very ugly
and if you want something then you must steal it
steal a kiss from a sleeping woman
who is a thousand years old but has the face of a six-year-old child
a child who is afraid of the toppled chairs of nightfall and the flashing blades of approaching dawn
but not afraid of the abusive father's trouser hose.
the second thing you must learn is how to love
so that no one can see your heart in your eyes
and no one will know what you long for.

you remember the sound of a hand slapping a child's face
the sound it makes is far more important than the suffering it causes
i just thought of how i look now and how i would look if someone took a picture of me to send to you
you must have some reason for not wanting to be caught by the heel by me
such as being afraid of your own shadow
when the fear subsides you must learn to dance
with your body, of course, but not with your hands
because when Siegmund and Sieglinde dance they only point to their feet
they do not touch each other's bodies.
when I was praying last night God (or the devil) answered me
his voice was like a warm, gentle breeze
he spoke unto me and said:

falling in love is a lot like a swimming lesson
but a swimming lesson which has been reversed back-to-front
if you wish to learn to swim, my little one
then first you must learn to drown.