by April Wernham
When We First Met
Do you remember when we first met?
I think so. You were working as a checkout assistant in a faux leather shoe and handbag outlet in a poorly lit unsavoury indoor market near somewhere like Leeds when I met you.
I was not.
You were.
No. I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar.
Were you?
Yeah
I don’t remember.
You do. In that little place by the canal.
Where?
In London. Remember? The place that just had cocktails. Nothing else.
Oh yeah.
And you came in one day when it was raining.
It was always raining then.
It was. And you were alone. You were always alone then.
I was.
And you had that big coat on that you used to wear all the time. When it was raining.
I did.
Do you remember now?
I do.
I can’t believe you didn’t remember.
No I remember. How could I forget?
Do you remember when you first saw me?
Of course.
What do you remember?
I remember the rain.
Me too.
And I remember the light.
What about it?
I remember the way it made it you look.
How did it make me look?
Beautiful.
You always said I looked beautiful then.
When we built this place together
Do you remember when we first built this place together?
I remember when we first built this place together.
What do you remember?
I remember you.
What else do you remember?
Well I remember me.
And?
And everyone else.
I remember us all being together. All the people that I loved. Building this place.
Did you love them from the very beginning?
No. I didn’t love them from the very beginning. But I thought they were beautiful.
When did you start to love them?
When we started to build this place together.
They were beautiful.
…
Do you remember when we first came here?
Yes
When we found it?
Yes
It was hidden.
It was.
But we found it.
We found it together.
What did you think when we first found it?
I thought it was magical.
Me too.
….
Should we have known?
I don’t know. Known what?
What was going to happen.
Well what were the chances?
Of what?
That we would meet. That all that would happen.
Not very high really.
You really were beautiful then.
…
When we killed that monster
Do you remember that time we killed that monster together?
I remember that time we killed that monster together.
Do you remember what it was like?
How do you mean?
Do you remember how it felt?
I remember how it felt
How did it feel?
It felt like we were one
How do you mean?
Like we were part of each other
Do you think we were part of each other?
I don’t know.
…
Do you think it’s true?
What?
That if something is important you have to fight for it.
I think it’s true
Do you think we fought for the important things?
I think we tried
What did we fight for?
Well, we killed that monster together.
We did.
And we fought for the place we built and the people we built it with.
…
Do you remember that beach with the black sand?
Where we went to rest after the fighting?
Yes. That one. Pitch black like the night.
Yes.
Do you remember walking along it together. Like being on another planet
We were, weren’t’ we?
What?
On another planet.
No, that was back on earth.
The beach with the black sand was on earth?
Yes, don’t you remember?
Let me think…
…
When we were young
When we built this place together were we young?
I think so.
When we were young were we free?
Yes
When we were free what did the sky look like?
The sky looked black.
What did beach look like?
The beach looked black.
What did i look like?
You looked beautiful. Always.
…
Do you ever think about thinking about the things you did when you were young when you are old while you are still young?
I used to.
You used to be so beautiful.
….
Do you ever think about that time.
What time?
You know, that time.
Oh that time. That time that we…
Yeah that time. Do you ever think about that time?
Yeah, I do. Do you?
I can’t stop thinking about it.
Photographs of Hackney Wick by April Wernham. Print ‘Hackney Wick Skyline’ by Tom Williams
April makes participatory artworks about dancing, going home, being together, and the end of the world. She also writes words from the dust of ground down hopes and dreams, upon a canvas of hand blended sweet nothings and star’s tears. Her work will make you laugh and smile, though sometimes while you are smiling and laughing you are still sad inside. And though no one should ever forget that its ok to be sad sometimes, she would still like to make you feel better soon.
Something Other 