If Fountains Could Speak: Stories from the Edge of the Water

the first coin tossed into my basin was a liberty head nickel its promise sinking through the clear water in 1912 last week you heard the story of a forgotten photograph a single moment frozen and then lost my story is different i hold millions of moments not frozen but flowing one into the next my water is a currency of wishes offered up by hands i will never know for hopes i can only feel in the weight of their falling coins i have felt the splash of children's hands on hot july afternoons there's shrieks of laughter echoing off my stone i have been a backdrop for countless first dates the nervous energy almost visible in the

air the words lost in my constant cascade a man in a worn coat used to sit on the east bench every morning sharing his breakfast with the pigeons i watched him grow older slower till one autumn he simply wasn't there anymore the pigeons still came for a week waiting i feel the vibrations of the city through my foundation the rumble of the subway the thud of a distant parade drum the soft footfalls of a jogger at dawn they are all part of my rhythm for a time there was a young couple he always arrived first pacing the flagstones she would appear from the west path and his face would change the whole park seemed to brighten when she smiled at him they would sit on my edge fingers trailing in the water their future and unwritten story whisper between them

i watched them through a spring of giddy newness a summer of easy comfort and into a fall where their silences grew longer then came the day it was gray a damp chill in the air that promised winter he was there first as always but he wasn't pacing he just stood staring into my water when she arrived she didn't smile they spoke for a long time but their voices were too low for the wind to carry i only felt the quiet tension the finality there were no tears he reached out touched her arm and then let his hand fall she turned and walked back down the west path without looking back he

watched her go and then he sat on my edge for what felt like an eternity his reflection staring back at him from the rippling surface then he stood and left the seasons kept turning new lovers found my benches new children sailed paper boats across my basin the city lived and i flowed many years later a woman stood where he had stood she had lines around her eyes that spoke of laughter and sorrow a small child held her hand chattering about the sparkling water the woman looked at me and i felt a flicker of recognition not of the girl she was but of the memory i held for her she didn't toss a coin she didn't need to make a wish she just watched the water for a moment a quiet acknowledgment passing between us i remember them all the hopes the heartbreaks the small silent goodbyes

my water washes over everything judging nothing forgetting nothing the sun catches a new coin a flash of silver falling into the blue and i accept it without a sound