Coffee Cup

by Law Hamilton

I saw the coffee cup and at first thought it would be gone tomorrow.  Its owner must have left it to take a stroll on the beach on such a fine day, casually placing on the boulder at the end of the seawall.   As if, its owner had just stepped away and would be right back.  But the next day, Coffee Cup was still there, and remained on the third day.  

Seeing it became part of the process of getting to the the beach.  Coffee Cup  had personality and seemed lonely.  I am not sure when I became fixated with it.  I started to take its picture, with the iphone and the big girl camera.  It became a fixture, like the stairs down to the sand.  “Coffee Cup was still there this morning,” I would remark after a walk. Texts of its current status were sent.

Cheaply made, not even a printed logo, gave meaning to “single use” of the take-away paper cup.  It stood waiting, for weeks into months.   Coffee Cup saw the patterns of the tides coming and going, and of days turned into nights.  It saw the clouds roll past, and the rain turn to snow. The plastic snug fitting lid kept the contents intact.  Over time, the paper seams started to seep and stain Coffee Cup from the inside.  It remained seated at a jaunty angle, waiting for a hand to pick it up.

A Nor'easter took Coffee Cup.  

It  was found in the detritus and seaweed after a particularly high tide.