THE PAIRS PROJECT
As part of a collaborative project I had to respond, through creative writing, to one half of a pair….salt and pepper, nut and bolt, knife and fork and cup and saucer. Here are the results…
Pepper
I was freed from my prison by a young indian boy. He was almost naked except for a pair of old dusty shorts. With just a rope slotted round the trunk of a tree, an end in each hand, he shinned his way up towards me. He grasped my rough form with his smooth young hands and shook me free into his bag. After months baking in the sun the abrupt plunge into darkness startled me awake. My journey had begun. It wasn’t what I was expecting…much more painful than I’d have imagined and it happened so quickly. Firstly I lost my identity, lost amongst a sea of black faces thrust out into the heat for days on end. Then I was crushed viciously amongst them to form a million children, no larger than dust. I was sealed, packed and shipped. In the blink of an eye I was thrust from one prison in the sun to another in the darkness. 5 small pin-like holes in my ceiling project light into my small circular cell and here I am imprisoned before, once more, I am shaken free.
The Nut
I hold you.
I squeeze you like thighs around a pole.
I revolve around you – you make my head spin and I turn and I turn.
I was made to fit you perfectly with not a hair’s breadth or an airs breath between us.
You wear your threads on the outside while mine wind on the inside, my circular sensitivity hidden by an angular shell.
I long to be with you through every twist and turn and though our relationship is made possible due to two others, the ones we also hold close,
know that I am yours and yours alone.
The Fork
The fork has a rich history – progressing from 2 prongs to 4, passing from the delicate hands of gentlefolk to the leathery digits of the most burly man, crossing borders – Greece, Italy, France, finally to land on our shores in the 1600’s– but what lies in its future? They say that necessity is the mother of invention but I’m not so sure. Language, I think, is the mother of invention – we describe something and it comes into being. So as it turns out, there are, in fact, 5 new varieties of fork about to be born and I’d like to share them with you.
1. The fork of lightning
The fork of lightning spears food with vigour, both piercing and cooking it at the same time. Instructions for use: use a quick pierce for rare or a long and lingering prod for well done.
2. The Fork in the Road
The fork in the road means that there are just two items on your plate and importantly you can spike and taste only one. This fork is definitely not for the indecisive and there’s no going back.
3. The Tuning Fork
The tuning fork emits a different note with each type of food that is pronged – for instance., a tomato produces a squeaky high note, a potato a dull drone. A musical feast for the ears. Perfect for those awkward silences during meal times. Please note: A pitch fork may be used in tandem if higher or lower notes are required.
4. The Forked Tongue
The forked tongue is evolution at its finest. No longer in need of an implement, our tongues pierce and lift our food into our mouths in one elegant stroke.
5. The Fork Lift
The fork lift enables over eaters to eat the heaviest of meals with mechanical precision. Warning: Not for those with delicate palettes.
The Cup
Which came first the cup or the cupping of hands? Which defined the name of the other? Imagine narcissus or whoever was the first man to gaze lovingly, thirstily at the reflection of water. He bent down and broke the seal with two hands. His hands held firmly together, little finger length to little linger length, all energy used to push skin against skin tight, so as not to drop a drop. He held his hands to his lips to drink. He didn’t get down on all fours to lap up the water with dirty knees and a wet chin. No, he was better than that.
I spoke to a friend the other day who told me that love cannot be held onto – there is nothing solid to hold and it can spill, liquid-like from our hands at any moment. It made me reflect for a while and I concluded that while our hands hold water as our hearts hold love, let’s hold it tight, drink lovingly from it and reject the cold, glazed porcelain substitute for as long as we can.
