The Pier Between Us

Two voices on the same pier. Same railing. Same water. Same coffee cooling on the bench between them. Different meanings.

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Voice A

The coffee is cold because we've been here long. That's what time does - it takes the warmth out of things that were warm. The railing is cold because the metal remembers the morning. The water is grey because it's early. You can't argue with grey water. You can only sit with it and wait for it to decide to be something else.

The cup on the bench is hers. She brought it. She set it there. She hasn't touched it in twenty minutes. That's not a symbol. That's a woman who doesn't want her coffee right now.

I'm not going to read the water for meaning. The water is water. It's grey because it's early. It will be blue later. It will be dark later. It doesn't care what we think it is.

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Voice B

The coffee is cold because she left it. That's what leaving does - it takes the warmth out of things that were held. The railing is cold because the metal has been touching the same air I have, and neither of us has anything to say about it.

The cup on the bench is mine. I brought it. I set it there. I haven't touched it in twenty minutes. That's not a decision. That's a woman whose hands are doing something else.

The water is grey because it's early. But the grey is the colour of something that hasn't happened yet. The water isn't waiting. The water is the before. The before doesn't have a colour. We call it grey because we don't know what else to call the thing that comes before the thing.

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Voice A

She says the water is the before. I say the water is water. She says the cup is a decision. I say the cup is a cup. She says the cold is what leaving does. I say the cold is what time does.

We're both right. That's the problem. You can't sort this out. You can't pick the one who's right and send the other one home. We're both sitting on the same railing and the railing is cold and the coffee is cold and the water doesn't care.

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Voice B

He says the water doesn't care. I say the water is the before. He says the cup is a cup. I say the cup is mine. He says the cold is what time does. I say the cold is what leaving does.

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The coffee sits on the bench between them. Same coffee. Same bench. Same cold. One says it's time. One says it's leaving. The water is grey because it's early. Or because it's the before. The railing holds both of them. The pier doesn't choose.