I was shocked to see you board from the back,
and I, from the front, could see no more of your face,
shrouded by the light of this grazing storm,
we make calls like we were on different continents,
Though we murdered dams and bridges,
shed the blood of mountains and rivers,
mauled down valleys that divided homes;
You sit by the window, I in the middle,
separated from touching and kissing,
separated from knocking our feet together,
sentenced to distances money could grab,
a million pounds for a small cabin bag,
and a thousand dollars for a handbag.
How we embrace non-priorities like a priority,
as though we built a kingdom of vegetables
for vegetables to be prioritised over fruits,
lest their shortness of living is their undoing.
We are all small bags, smart and lean,
like we are on our way to Heaven,
where eternity awaits with everything,
no need to come along with perishables.
not this plane zooming for a departure,
not the distance between the land and the sky,
where, soon, we would perch on the wings of a bird,
rendered a machine by the hand of man,
seeking to tear the clouds apart
and bring families together at last,
not this sphere of shutting down grace,
not even the darkness of greed and fear,
would separate us from each other
when grief at this slight momentary loss,
builds us and rams us and fixes us forever.
INSTANT NOODLES 